The Hunting Competition
by Gems6515
Summary: Arthur decides to celebrate the one year anniversary of his ascention to the throne with a hunting competition. But like most things in Camelot hunting competition does not run smoothly as criminals, enchanted arrows, and amoral power hungry peasants intervene.
1. Merlin and Arthur

**In case it is not obvious- I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or an ipad, or a dishwasher that works, or a box of tissues or a pet sheep (anymore).**

**I apologise if this is atrocious. I spend my life writing academic essays etc for university, so writing creatively does not happen very often.**

Merlin sat for a moment while he hurriedly ate a chunk of bread in his chambers. He couldn't believe what the stupid git had done now. As if hunting trips weren't stupid and pointless enough to begin with he just had to go and turn it into a competition.

It was the anniversary of the first year since Arthur had officially ascended the throne and he wanted to do something to celebrate. Something 'fun' he had said. At this Merlin had become excited, he thought that Arthur had meant something that normal non-prats found fun, like a fair, or a feast, or even jousting tournament. At least at a jousting tournament Merlin could enjoy the atmosphere and sneak away to chat with the other servants when he wasn't needed. But no, Arthur wanted to have a hunting competition. How you could even compete when hunting was beyond Merlin, but what the prat King wants the prat King gets.

Arthur sent out an open invitation to all the Lords to compete, and within the fortnight Camelot was overflowing with nobility preparing to best one another by downing the largest buck or boar. The castle was full to capacity, meaning that the servants were run off their feet trying to cater to the every whim nobles. The castle felt like it was in a constant state of chaos. The kitchens were never closed as the cooks worked around the clock trying to produce enough high quality food. The maids never had a moment to themselves, trying to keep the castle in at least a semblance of cleanliness. Finally Gias had been run off his feet catering to every niggle of discomfort or pain that the visiting nobles had.

Merlin sighed and wondered if Arthur had any notion of the absolute pandemonium that his supposed late night stroke of brilliance had brought. Probably not, he thought with a smirk on his face, after all the clotpole barely even noticed things that went on right under his nose.

'MERILN!', he heard hollered from the hallway.

'MERLIN! WHERE THE BLAZES ARE YOU!'

The door to Gias' chambers crashed open to reveal a very stressed and irate looking Pendragon.

'MERLIN! You do realise that you are _my _manservant and it is therefore _your_ job to serve _me_. It is not _my_ job to have to have to go traipsing around the castle looking for _you_!' Arthur sighed with frustration while pinching the bridge of his nose.

'Now where is my ceremonial sword, you were supposed to have had it polished and sharpened yesterday.'

Arthur then glared at Merlin from across the room. The silence in the room was only penetrated by Merlin frantically trying to chew his mouthful of bread in order to answer the increasingly annoyed King. Giving up on chewing the bread as the atmosphere in the room became ever more uncomfortable Merlin eventually answered with a mouth full of mushy bread.

'At the blacksmith.'

'What the hell is it still doing at the blacksmith!? I need it tomorrow to open the hunting competition!'

Merlin was finally able to gulp down the bread.

'Well I forgot to pick it up yesterday...

Arthur interrupted Merlins' explanation, 'You forgot, of course you forgot. Merlin, is it to much to ask that once, just once, you act like a half-competent manservant so that I am not embarrassed in front of every important Lord and Lady in the Kingdom. I don't know why I keep you around sometimes. My chambers are always a mess, you never wake me up in time, oh, and your polishing skills are beyond atrocious. I mean the only things you are accomplished at are tripping over your own feet and mucking out the stables.'

By this time Arthur was ranting, his hands waving around as if to punctuate the words he was saying. It was obvious that the young King was harassed and frazzled. Arthur was evidently not immune to the frantic atmosphere that inhabited the castle.

'Well since you seem to have time to sit down and eat, unlike anyone else in the castle at the moment, you can polish all of the knights boots, clean my chambers properly for once, assist in the preparation of the hunting equipment for tomorrow, make sure they don't need any help in the kitchens, oh and that leach tank in the corner looks like it needs cleaning. Of course that is AFTER you pick up my ceremonial sword from the blacksmith.'

As Arthur had continued to rant his demeanour had begun to relax. It was as if loading his manservant with duties was therapeutic for him. With a self-satisfied smirk Arthur then turned around on the spot and strode out of the room.

Merlin goofily grinned at the empty space Arthur had just vacated. He was used to his behaviour. Whenever Arthur was stressed, angry or frustrated he would find Merlin, rant at him for a while and then walk away feeling better. They both knew what Arthur was doing when he yelled at Merlin. Merlin didn't mind, he knew Arthur wasn't really angry at him, he was just coping the best way he knew. In a way Merlin saw this routine as a sign of their friendship. Who else could you yell at, and who else would let you yell at them with no hard feelings but a friend.

Merlin jumped to his feet. He had better get to blacksmith. It seemed his busy day, was now even more full then it had been previously. This next week, while the competition occurred, was going to prove trying for everyone in Camelot.

**I don't know if this is a one shot or not...**

**Please let me know what you think...**

**I review other peoples work; therefore, by the laws of karma, you should review mine right?**


	2. Joseph

**Hello there people who are still bothering with me and this story. So originally I thought that this was a one shot- definitely a one shot. But those lovely people who have reviewed have told me to consider continuing it. So I have, but (don't you just love that word but :S) you might find this chapter a little off/random/bizarre- kind of like it doesn't fit. To be honest I kind of find it a little random, but this is what came out when I started typing. If you choose to bear with me I believe it will all make sense/fit together in the end.  
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**I know right- not that reassuring when the person who has written it says that she only **_**thinks**_** it will fit together. I guess my reasoning for this chapter is that every story needs a guy you can really strongly dislike (you're not allowed to hate them because my mum told me you shouldn't ever hate someone :S), and to strongly dislike someone you have to get to know them first.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or a car that has a charged battery, or a good pumpkin pie recipe or a decent pair of ugg boots.  
**

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Joseph cowered in the corner as the large burley man brutally backhanded his sister. It wasn't so much the fact that he had hit his sister that terrified him, Joseph had never really gotten on with the old hag, but the show of force and strength that the man held struck terror into Joseph's heart. He knew in that moment that he would do whatever the stranger demanded of him. He knew he was a man of weak convictions and morals. Joseph would do whatever he had to, to survive. He didn't see this as a flaw; if others were stupid enough to be moral, giving, compassionate and kind that was their problem. If he had the power to make people cower before him he would not hesitate to use it. Power, true power, to take him away from this decrepit village filled with filthy peasants was all he ever dreamed of. Joseph did not care for peoples respect, or loyalty. It didn't matter to him what others thought of him, he wanted no other reputation that to be the most feared person in the five kingdoms.

Despite his dreams of greatness and power Joseph was a farm hand, who existed off the compassion of those who lived in the same village. His father had been a moral, solid man who the other villages had looked up to and admired. It was for his father's sake that the villages had taken him and his sister in after his father had succumbed to the sweating sickness several years ago. His mother had died during his birth, but despite this his father had never blamed his son. Joseph's father had tried to raise his son and daughter with enough love and support so that they could never want for anything.

Conversely, Joseph had thought his father had been weak and pathetic, always giving away anything he could to help others. His father had made sure his children had never gone hungry, but he also never saw reason in having more than you needed while others had none. Growing up in this manner Joseph had resented his father's generosity. Joseph had always thought he could have had so much more, but his father had given it away, and now after his father's death he was forced to live off the scraps others gave him because his father had never had enough sense to guard what was theirs.

This was how Joseph had found himself in his current situation. The large burley man had ambushed Joseph and his sister in the tavern they had been sent to by their village elder to run an errand for him in exchange for tonight's dinner. It turns out that the man they had been sent to meet had double crossed their current companion, and he was looking to even the score.

'I ..I..I dddon't know where Eldridge is! I swear!', stuttered out Joseph as the man turned his attention to him.

The burly man peered at Joseph as if trying to see the truthfulness of his words

'I promise you I don't know where Eldridge is! Bolstorff sent us here to collect a debt that he owed him. I have never even laid my eyes on the man!'

The burly man seemed to be taking Joseph's words under consideration. He leaned back so he was no longer towering over Joseph. His muscles relaxing marginally as if he was no longer poised to beat the answers he wanted out of the pair. Joseph sighed in relief thinking that he escaped a painful encounter, but Joseph's attacker was not done yet. The burly man cocked his head to this side, his forehead crinkling in concentration while he continued to stare unwaveringly at Joseph.

'So if you have never seen him before, how do you know who you were supposed to be collecting money off?'

So he has a brain, Joseph thought ruefully.

'Olive knows him' Joseph spat out as quickly as he could while glancing over at her, hoping to shift the large mans' scrutiny from himself back to his sister.

The muscular man raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned back to the young woman who was only just now shakily pulling herself to her feet. While Olive glared at Joseph for his betrayal, Joseph smiled to himself. Thinking his distraction had worked Joseph began to inch himself towards to exist of the now deserted tavern. However, his luck was not with him today. The burly man was not as distracted as he had thought him to be as he swung around to violently grab the collar of Joseph's shirt and threw him to the ground next to his sister.

'You, _mate, _are not going anywhere until we clear this little misunderstanding up. So what you two are telling me is that you have a bone to pick with Eldridge as well, for hightailing out of here without giving you the money for your elder fellow.'

'I guess you could see it that way', Joseph replied

'Well that is the way I am seeing. So you better see that way as well, because the way I see this situation could be mutually beneficial for the both of us. You need to find Eldridge, I need to find Eldridge, so we're going find Eldridge together. You can get what money you can out of him, and I can pound that brainless horses' arse to a pulp.'

The burly man had spoken in a soft authoritative voice as if he was not presenting an option for the pair to consider, but telling them how the situation was now going to play out. Joseph paled as he realised that he wasn't going to escape the attentions of the brute for some time. His sister sighed with a concerned look on her face, as Olive also realised that they were stuck in this situation.

'So, sweetheart', the burly man began threatingly looking at Olive, 'knowing Eldridge, as you do, where do you think he would have gone?'

Olive glanced pointedly stared at the ground trying to think the situation through. She did not want to sell out her old friend, but was unable to see how she and her brother were going to get out of this in one piece if she didn't. He large man she was confronted with was beyond angry and looked as if he would not think twice about murdering either one of them in that moment if she even tried to lie to him. Coming to the only conclusion she could Olive looked up pointedly staring directly into the eyes of the man who had hit her.

'Camelot, he would go to Camelot.'

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**I saw another author do this in another fandom to try and get people to review so I am going to blatantly copy her idea. **

**If you wish to review and do not know what to say I am going to give you a couple of options here. Just copy and paste the one that applies to you and put it in that handy dandy review box below:**

**1) Wow Gemma, just wow. Your writing is a divine as your countenance. You are obviously a very talented, wonderful and exquisite human being. If I had your talent I would take over the world, and people would be grateful, because to be ruled over by such a truly majestic person would be a gift.  
**

**2) Your whack  
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**3) Your ideas have merit but your execution is lacking.  
**

**4)Your execution has merit but your ideas are lacking.  
**

**5) Your story does not make sense you crazy weirdo.  
**

**6)****Good job, I enjoyed reading this. I hope you update soon.  
**

**7)Where the hell is Merlin!? This is a Merlin story! You can't just mention Camelot in the last line and expect that to be enough! Gawd! **


	3. Eldridge

**A/N: Scene: a large auditorium sparsley decorated, state of the art. I am standing on the stage in the centre. A lone spot light shines down on me, blinding me to the room beyond the stage. 'Hello again everyone!' I yell, the sound of my own voice echoing back at me. As the black spots clear from my eyes I am able to see the room beyond. The seats are deserted except for a couple of cardboard cut-out people planted in the audience earlier to fill up seats and a janitor at the back of the room starting to vacuum the floor. There is silence in the room (except for the hum of the vacuum cleaner). I shuffle from side to side awkwardly on the stage, 'I hope you are all still enjoying my story!' The cardboard cut-out people don't respond. One of them falls over sideways onto the chair next to it. It looks like the cardboard cut-out people are so bored they are falling asleep, or dying, I'm not entirely sure which. **

**This is pretty much what goes through my head…..so if you do like my story please let me know. **

**This chapter, again, doesn't have much Camelot, Merlin, Arthur. BUT! I promise you that it all does come together in the next chapter, in Camelot, with Merlin, and people trying to kill Arthur everything every Merlin episode has! **

**Also could you please let me know if you think the pacing is to slow. I have found the more I write the slower the pacing seems to get, so at this rate we could end up 100, 000, 000 chapters in without the hunting competition even starting :P**

**Disclaimer: I dont own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or diamonds, or my own country, or any sense of motivation to finish my PhD proposal**

**That is all. **

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Eldridge knew he had been stupid. Just a little adventure he thought. Go on a little quest to find a couple of enchanted arrows. Meet some interesting people. See some of the countryside; get out of his home town for a while. But no, that's not how it happened.

It all started when he was drinking in the tavern one evening. Eldridge had been sitting there minding his own business as he always did, drinking a few pints, discretely ogling a couple of barmaids, when he heard the guy on the table next to him spinning his tall tale.

'So the were-fox had me cornered right, and I thought I was a goner. But out of no-where this tree branch falls on it, knocking it out cold. Well, I thought to myself this is a stroke of luck too good to not take advantage of. So I slit the things throat and skinned it, and that is where this particular fur comes from. I will sell it to you if you like! Only 12 bronze pieces. It's a bargain, for were-fox fur!'

Eldridge rolled his eyes. At every tavern, in every town there was always that one guy, with the ridiculous story, that usually ended up just being a ploy to try and sell you some 'magical, mystical' object for an extravagant price. Last week there was a guy trying to sell enchanted hair. What, in the five kingdoms, would anyone want with enchanted hair? Eldridge was pretty sure that the hair was horse hair and to him it looked like there was nothing special about it, but what did he know he was just a carpenter.

The man that had been trying to sell the 'were-fox fur' had now lost his audience and was looking dejectedly into his pint. Eldridge felt somewhat sorry for him. He was only trying to make a living, however farfetched and ridiculous that living may be, and in a way anyone who believed the stories these men told deserved to be taken for a ride for being that gullible.

A large burly man suddenly sat down next to him startling Eldridge out of his thoughts.

'Evening'

'Evening'

The two sat in silence both focused on their pints. Eldridge glanced around the tavern noticing that there were several tables which were entirely free, meaning that the man had deliberately sat next to him. While still studying his pint with an academic amount of interest he quickly glanced up at the man sitting next to him. He was tall at least 6ft 3, well built, muscular not flabby. His dark hair was only barely visible as it was shorn close to his scalp. He looked hardened as if he had lived a harsh life, and only marginally presentable. Eldridge was pretty sure that this was not a man you wanted to meet in the forest at night.

The burly man finally spoke up, 'You the town carpenter?'

Eldridge decided to play it safe, be polite, courteous, and helpful even, until he could work out exactly what this stranger wanted from him.

'Yes I am, name's Eldridge', he said holding out his hand to the man.

The stranger gripped his hand with a vice like grip almost crushing the bones. He didn't shake it to begin with, merely held his hand and peered at his face as if trying to read it. Eventually, with a nod he shook Eldridge's hand and released it.

'Condry', he said.

'Well Condry what can I do for you? My shops shut for the evening but I am sure I can help you out all the same.'

'I've been looking for some arrows.'

'Well I can't really help you there, not my area of expertise you see. If you wanted a cart wheel fixed though, I'm you man.'

At this comment Condry scowled at Eldridge, his impatience and frustration clearly visible on his hulking face.

'I am well aware that as a carpenter you don't make arrows', he growled out at Eldridge, 'I am not a simpleton. I merely require your expertise and knowledge of wood in order to identify whether they are the arrows I am looking for.'

'Oh, right, that I could probably help you out with. So what wood are these 'special arrows' supposed to be?' Eldridge couldn't help but to let a hint of sarcasm into his voice when he referred to the special arrows. Special arrows he thought, that is about as far-fetched as were-fox fur.

'How about instead of me telling you what wood they are supposed to be, you just tell me what wood they are.' Condry said this patronisingly as if he no longer believed Eldridge could tell a horses' arse from its' head.

Condry discreetly laid an arrow on the table, sheltering the view of the arrow from the rest of the tavern with his body. He looked up at Eldridge, raised an eyebrow and waited expectantly for him to examine the arrow. Eldridge picked up the arrow and twisted it around in his fingers. It was a well-made arrow that was for sure. He wasn't an expert but it looked to him to be a long Bodkin arrow. The wood was defiantly not your standard yew. It seemed to Eldridge that it was made out of elm, which was not overly common, but nothing 'special'.

'Elm, its made out of elm wood', he told Condry

At this news the burly man's face contorted into a picture of absolute rage.

'That bastard!' Condry seemed to speaking more to himself than Eldridge. 'He took me for a damn ride didn't he! If he wasn't dead I would kill him again!'

Condry's rage had not gone un-noticed by the other patrons of the tavern. Many of them had begun to shift nervously in their chairs shooting Eldridge looks of pity, confusion, and worry in equal measures. None of the other patrons wanted to be in Eldridge's position, sitting next to a clearly enraged dangerous man.

Despite the pitying looks he was getting from the fellow tavern goers Eldridge knew that they would not offer their assistance if things turned nasty. Not that he blamed them. Sticking your nose into other people business was surly one of the quickest ways to lose said nose. Eldridge racked his brains for a way to calm down the mountain of a man who was currently fuming next to him.

'Maybe I can help you out,' Eldridge offered, 'If you tell me what is supposed to be so special about these arrows I might be able to point you in the right direction. I'm in here almost every night and there are often folks talking about something or another, I might know something.'

Condry took a deep steadying breath, as if just speaking through his rage was an olympic effort.

'The arrows are supposed to be magical. If you shoot one, no matter your quality as a marksman as long as you can see your target and are thinking about what you want to hit, you will hit it. These arrows are supposed to be made out of hazel wood. The man who ….._gave_ …. these to me assured me they were the right arrows. He knew I couldn't tell one wood from another and tricked me!' Condry finished in an angered whisper.

This story rang a bell to Eldridge, but he couldn't quite place it. Hold on, he thought.

'The fellow that gave you those arrows, was he short, red hair, freckly fellow?'

'That would be the scumbag'

Interesting choice of words, Eldridge thought, considering who was speaking them.

'I saw him here about a fortnight ago, he was spinning the same tale about the arrows. I remember him coz he, for once, wasn't trying to sell anyone the things. He was just bragging about finding them, and that he was going to save them for a rainy day. I think he came from the town on the other side of the mountain.'

With this news Condry appeared to calm down. A calculating look appeared on his face as if he was trying to work out what he was going to do next.

Condry rose from the table, 'Looks like I'm off then, got to find those arrows. '

It was this decision, at this moment that Eldridge would later vehemently regret. Eldridge came to the tavern almost every night and heard tales of adventures by those traveling through, and although he often didn't believe every word they told he envied their freedom. What an adventure he thought, to find some magical arrows. That would be a tale to tell the ladies. He could just imagine the impressed look on Olive's face as he would describe his bravery, courage and cunning. Despite the dubious company this could be his only chance for adventure.

'Can I come?', Eldridge asked the intimidating giant.

Condry wore an expression of genuine surprise. Someone actually wanted to be in his company longer than they had to be. This was a first.

'I know the way to the town, I wont be any trouble, I can look after myself.'

Condry hesitated a moment longer while he thought this through. He might need someone to create a diversion, do some dirty work, take the blame for a dodgy deed. Why not.

'Okay but you look out for yourself, do as I say, don't poke your nose in where it doesn't belong and if you double cross me I swear I will skin you while you are still alive.'

On that note the two men set out to retrieve the magical arrows. Through the course of their adventure Eldridge learnt that the arrows really were magical, his traveling companion was the scum of the earth, and he had somehow managed to get tangled up in an epic plan to murder the King of Camelot. Olive would definitely _not_ be impressed, when he eventually told her this tale. Or _if_ he eventually got to tell her the tale.

So here Eldridge was now, heading to Camelot with a three magical arrows, a murderous thug after him and no one to turn to except an old friend of his that he had heard was now living in Camelot. He really hoped Gwaine was there, and not completely drunk. Gwaine always knew how to get out of a bind, and right now Eldridge prayed that his talent for getting out of trouble had not deserted his old drinking buddy.

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**As per usual this is the place I beg for reviews. **

**Please, pretty pretty.**

**Like last week I will give you some options to copy and paste for reviews:**

**1) You're awesome**

**2) You're awesomely awesome**

**3) Your awesomeness knows no bounds**

**4) You're delusional **


	4. Arthur, Merlin and Gwaine

**Hello again. How are you all? Good I hope. I don't have much to say here this time. Oh ouch, I heard you all sigh in relief when I said that. Less and less people are reading this story, and reviewing it so I am beginning to think it may be time to pack it in. I don't see much point in continuing to write if no-one likes it…Please don't interpret this as a desperate bid for affirmations of my brilliance. I am just honestly having mixed feelings about this story. That said, I probably will keep writing. I hate leaving things half done. **

**I really do appreciate the people who have reviewed (especially those who have reviewed more than once!). When I get reviews I end up with this weird goofy grin on my face- it kind of looks like this :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or Gwaine, or the BBC, or the will power to exercise regularly. **

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'Gods Merlin! Would it kill you to be quiet for once? How one person can make so much noise is beyond me!' Arthur snapped.

It was the second day of the hunt and it wasn't going well for King Arthur. So far he had barely managed to glimpse a living creature. By sunset of the first day Lord Ektor had killed quiet a large boar, currently placing him in the lead of the competition. Lord Garreth had also subdued a very impressive buck, however he had not made it back within the citadels walls before the sun had left the sky, so his kill had been disqualified. Lord Garreth had been enraged at this news but Arthur had been adamant. He had outlined the rules to the visiting nobles before the competition had commenced during the ceremony. It wasn't his fault that Lord Garreth had become bored with all the speeches, pomp and ceremony, and had dozed off when he had been speaking.

Arthur had thought the rules were simple enough that even, well, Merlin could understand them. The competition commenced each day at dawn, and ended as the sun set. For any game to be counted the hunter had to be within the citadel walls, with their quarry before the last rays of sun left the sky. The competitors themselves had to kill their game, on their own, without assistance. Competitors did not have to hunt every day, and the person who killed the largest single animal won the competition. Arthur had thought this would prevent the Lords from killing everything in sight, leaving some of the smaller game for the townsfolk, who he knew supplement their diets with the animals.

Arthur still hoped that he could bag himself an impressive animal. After all it was only the second day of the seven day competition, he had time. Well he had time if Merlin didn't scare off every animal in the vicinity with his insistent chattering. Arthur sighed in absolute frustration as Merlin continued to bash his way through the forest making more noise than a Griffin and a Dragon dancing during a thunderstorm. There probably wasn't an animal left in the forest that didn't know they were coming. Merlin was so infuriating Arthur just wanted to shoot him sometimes.

Hold on, Arthur thought, that gives him an idea. Stopping abruptly Arthur twisted around to glare at Merlin with a slight smile pulling at the side of his mouth.

'Merlin did I put any limits on what kinds of animals would be counted in the competition?' Arthur queried.

'Geese Arthur, are you losing your memory already? I mean at times Gaius forgets a thing or two but he's got _at least_ a few more years on you. Maybe the stress of leadership is aging you prematurely. Hmm now that I think about your hairline has been creeping back a little. I mean most people would be barely able to see, your hair being so long and all, but when you look at the right angle ...'

'What do you mean my hairline is receding?' Arthurs hand instantly went to his forehead desperately checking on his hair. 'I mean maybe it isn't as far forward as it used to be but...wait...just shut up...my hairline is fine.'

Arthur was now scowling at Merlin as he self-consciously kept his hands by his sides. Arthur couldn't help but involuntarily flex his fingers back and forth. His hands just itching to continue his check of his hairline. 'Just answer the question Merlin.' Arthur retorted exasperated with the direction the conversation had taken. He wasn't impressed with how the way he intended to tease Merlin was turning out. 'Did I, or did I not put limits on the kinds of animals that would be counted in this competition?'

Merlin looked at Arthur with a puzzled expression, not sure where he was going with this line of questioning. 'No, you didn't Arthur. You said any animal is fair game, but the biggest animal wins.'

'And, Merlin, would you say that you are bigger or smaller than the boar that Lord Ektor killed yesterday'

Finally seeing where Arthur was heading with his line of questioning Merlin rolled his eyes.

'I dunno. I'm quite a skinny thing. There is probably barely enough of me for a good roast.'

'Well you see Merlin I think that it would be pretty close, size wise, and intelligence wise between you and the boar. You certainly smell quiet similar. So if I shot you, I do believe I would have a very good chance of winning the competition.'

'Yes well you might, but you won't.'

'And why is that.'

'You'd miss my sparkling personality?'

'Nope'

'My incredible wit?'

'Can't say I would'

'You need your socks washed?'

'There is always George'

'Gwen would be horribly angry at you.'

'I think she would forgive me- extenuating circumstances you see.'

This is how Gwaine found them when he caught up. He wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about. Almost everyone in the castle could attest to overhearing part of a conversation between the King and his manservant and not being entirely sure if they were speaking a foreign language

'I know! I know!' exclaimed Merlin, with a large goofy grin on his face. 'No-one would want to eat me. You said that there will be a feast where everyone gets to eat a bit of the winning beast. As King you couldn't possibly want to serve me up to all those important guests. They would get sick.'

'There Merlin, I think you might have a point. But you never know, with the right seasoning, it could work. Although knowing you, you probably couldn't even be a decent meal. You do manage make a mess of everything you do.'

'Sorry to interrupt you two girls' gossip, but I thought we were supposed to be hunting,' interjected Gwaine.

Gwaine wasn't actually participating in the competition. After several days of numerous nobles, as well as, their wives and daughters taking over the castle Gwaine had had more than enough. The Lords were barely tolerable, walking around the castle as if they owned everyone and everything in sight. The demands that they had been placing on the servants were ridiculous. The servants had been worked to the point of exhaustion. He had even seen one servant fall asleep after leaning against a wall for a moment. Although Gwaine was often hot headed he could put up with them. The Lords were only here for another week and most of them were out of the city during the day on the competition.

What he couldn't stand were all the noble Ladies. He appreciated the view of a pretty lady just as much as the next man. What he didn't appreciate was a bunch, no a herd, of said ladies constantly giggling, fluttering eyelashes, fake fainting (yes they did that he discovered), and generally playing the young knights off each other for entertainment. Give him a kind, down to earth beauty any day over those vivacious, vicious, self-centred airheads. The ladies games had caused many of the knights to become resentful and suspicious of their brothers in arms. The ladies showed little decorum, bestowing favours on one knight one day and another the next. The resulting atmosphere amongst many of the knights was not pleasant. Many of the knights were well aware that they were being played with. The only noble worth perusing was a landed noble, and knights, being younger sons, did not fit this category. Yet what man could resist the soft smiles and stolen glances of young woman.

So to escape the insistent twittering of the painted dolls Gwaine had joined the King as he competed. Arthur had tried to order Gwaine back to the castle, but he was determined, and there was nothing the King could do to get rid of him. Gwaine wanted a day of freedom, in the fresh air under a blue sky, without any drama or intrigue.

The three men started off again through the forest hoping to catch sight of some game worthy of being pursued. Merlin and Arthur were still continuing with their nonsensical conversation from earlier. Gwaine rode slightly behind the two men, often chuckling under his breath as one of them used a particularly good insult. The day was warm, with a soft cool breeze blowing through the trees. The greens of the bushes and trees standing out clearly against the back drop of the bright blue sky above and the rich brown earth beneath their horses hooves. The day was peaceful and serene, and the three men were simply enjoying each other's company and relishing their time away from the city more than seriously hunting.

They continued this way for some time before Arthur bought his horse to an abrupt halt, while signalling the others to do the same.

'What is it?' asked Merlin

'I don't know' replied Arthur with a concerned look on his face.

'Come on princess, there's nothing here. You're just over reacting', quipped Gwaine after a moment of tense silence.

The silence continued on with no movement around them or sounds other than the chirping of birds overhead.

Arthur suddenly relaxed, smiled and turned to Gwaine, 'looks like your right, there's nothing here.'

As soon as those words left Arthur's mouth there was thunderous movement in front of them. An enormous boar barrelled out of the undergrowth directly towards them, giving the three men little time to react. The men's concentration was centred on the large beast and its large tusks. While trying to avoid being pierced by the boar's tusks and arrow went flying by Arthur grazing his arm and only narrowing missing the boar in front of him. A second arrow flew towards them only seconds later from a slightly different direction, embedding itself in a tree directly over Arthur's shoulder.

'Stop! Stop shooting!' yelled Merlin, 'Don't shoot!', while trying to stop his horse from bolting in fright.

Gwaine was having similar trouble with his horse. Although they were experienced war horses of Camelot they were not used to being pelted with arrows while being attacked by large boar. Arthur had had less trouble with his horse; after all it had faced dragons, griffins, and Arthur, almost daily without flinching. He was, however, bleeding profusely from his arm where the arrow had hit him.

Several figures began to emerge from the tree line in front of them. By this time the boar had made its escape into the forest, to terrorise horses and men another day. The figures approaching them were heatedly arguing.

'That was my kill, you had NO RIGHT! NO RIGHT! To try and take it from me!'

'I had been tracking that beast all day, if anyone had any claim to it I did!'

The men were now close enough to be identified as Lord Garreth, Lord Ektor and their hunting companions. The Lords were obviously fuming at each other. After the disqualification of Lord Garreth's kill yesterday the men and had been bickering and sniping at each other constantly.

The two parties had now met, and the Lords could see who had been caught in their cross fire.

'Your Majesty! My humble apologies, I did not realise you were so near the beast', grovelled Lord Ektor.

'Your apology is accepted Lord Ektor, however I trust you will be more diligent in the future to check your line of site before you begin shooting,' Arthur replied coolly.

'Yes of course, Your Majesty, never again your majesty.'

Merlin and Gwaine shot each other a look and rolled their eyes as Arthur visibly cringed at Lord Ektor's lack of spine. Arthur had never been fond of suck ups. Bootlickers he called them. He couldn't stand them when they were servants, and they drove him mad when they were nobility. Lord Garreth on the other hand had been silent throughout the exchange. Arthur looked at the older Lord expectantly. Lord Garreth was looking around at the group, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that he had almost killed his King.

'Oh, yes, sorry about that', Lord Garreth offhandedly offered as a way of apology. 'What were you doing right on top of that monster anyway? It was more likely to kill you with its tusks then we were with an arrow.'

'It was not our intent to be that close to the boar. It rushed out of the undergrowth and came at us, probably because it was being pursued by you Lord Garreth,' stated Arthur through gritted teeth. The older Lords attitude was beginning to seriously wear on what little patience Arthur had. Lord Garreth had been nothing but high handed, rude and entitled since the moment he entered Camelot.

Your injured Your Majesty!' Lord Ektor exclaimed finally noticing Arthur's bleeding arm, 'We must get you to the castle to the physician immediately.'

Arthur looked down at his arm with a passing interest. Although it was bleeding copiously it was little more than a flesh wound.

'It is nothing, Lord Ektor, that cannot wait till the hunt is over this evening.'

'Yes well you need all the time you can get don't you sire,' quipped Lord Garreth. 'I don't believe you have bagged any quarry as of yet.'

Arthur glared at the Lord, annoyed at the jab the man had just made at his expense. Wanting to be out of the aggravating Lords company as soon as possible Arthur thought it best to take the least argumentative road.

'Yes you are right.' Arthur said with fake regret and modesty. 'I really should get back to the hunt if I want to be of any competition at all. Obviously we cannot all depart in the same direction. My party will be heading north...', indicating to the direction that the boar had come from, '... to try and find some fresh game. I suggest each of you pick a different path and get back to the hunt.'

At this Arthur signalled to Merlin and Gwaine that they should depart before the Lord Ektor could grovel some more or Lord Garreth had another wisecrack comment to make. The three men headed north for a few moments. As soon as Arthur was sure that they were a decent distance from the Lords he stopped and turned to Merlin.

'Merlin, could you do something about this bleeding', gesturing to his arm, 'It really is getting annoying.'

The three men dismounted their horses. Gwaine took care of the horses and secured them to a tree while Merlin began to bandage the Kings arm.

'aarrrrr'

'Stop moaning Arthur, it can hurt that bad'

'I wasn't moaning Merlin.'

'Yes you were, I heard you. And you say I'm a girl.'

'I said I didn't moan Merlin, who are you to question a King.'

'I'm your manservant Arthur. You really should see Gaius about that memory problem of yours.' Merlin quipped with a cheeky smile on his face.

'aaarrrrr'

'Really Arthur, stop moaning, I'm all done.'

'I said it wasn't me Merlin', Arthur snapped.

'Ssshhhh', commanded Gwaine. He then gestured to his ear and then to the bush in front of him, indicating that was where the noise had come from.

Arthur crept forward toward the bush, sword in hand. He gingerly pushed the bush to the side using the tip of his sword. Arthur's face paled.

'By the gods' he softly muttered.

Merlin and Gwaine rushed forward to see what was there. Peering behind the bush both men drew back.

They had not been expecting this...

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**Review if you want to…..or don't if you don't want to. Actually I would prefer it if you did review. Please?**


	5. Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine and Eldridge

**First up- Thank you to all those people who have reviewed and told me I should keep writing. So thankyou very much- jediyam, Lady Willamina, ReadingRaven019 and sarajm.**

**Secondly- this chapter is short, but the last one was longer than normal so I reckon it all kind of balances out **

**Thirdly- to my so called friends who recently decided (after I let it slip that I was trying to write a fan fiction story) that it was their mission in life to find it and read it- you suck. Knowing that you are all potentially reading this has made writing stupidly hard. I hope you're all happy now :S **

**Disclaimer- I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or a clean pair of jeans, or a phone battery that doesn't die before the end of the day, or a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing.**

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The bloodied, mangled body of a man was lying the behind the bush, his face swollen almost beyond comprehension. There was a large gash extending from his left hip to just below his right shoulder. One of the man's legs was protruding at an angle which was not in any way natural. Arthur had only once seen a man this badly injured before. It had been on one of his first hunts with his father. The noble had gotten in the way of an enraged and terrified boar. It had gored the man beyond recognition. He had not lived beyond the hour. It was obvious that the poor man here had happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time meeting the angry boar on foot. He would have never stood a chance.

Gwaine was peering at the man taking in all of his injuries. But there was more to it than that. The man looked familiar, behind the bruising and swelling. He lent further forward trying to see the injured man's face more clearly. He couldn't quiet place him. Gwaine instinctually grabbed for the flask he kept at his hip. If he ever needed a drink it was right now. Taking in the prone form of the man Gwaine gulped down several mouthfuls, savouring the taste and feeling grateful for the way it steadied his nerves. Then it hit him. The smell and taste of the alcohol jogged Gwaine's memory in a way that sight couldn't. It was Eldridge, his friend, his tavern buddy. Gwaine felt suddenly sick. The alcohol which had only moments ago been a comforting relief was rebelling in his stomach. It was Eldridge. This bloodied, mangled body in front of him was one of his oldest and dearest friends.

'We need to get him is Giaus straight away,' said Merlin

'There's no point,' replied Arthur, ' he's as good as dead. There is no way a man could survive those injuries.'

'We have to do something, we can't just leave him here Arthur!'

Gwaine hadn't moved. He wasn't sure he could. Merlin and Arthur were still discussing what to do about Eldridge. They were discussing him almost like he was a problem that needed to be solved, not like he was a man.

'Enough!' bellowed Gwaine, shocking the two men into silence.

Merlin and Arthur worriedly looked at Gwaine. He was never one to raise his voice.

' We will take him back to Giaus now. Everything that we can do we need to. This man...this man's name is Eldridge and we will do whatever we can for him.' Gwaine states determinedly.

Arthur looked at Gwaine, concern written across his face. 'You know this man?'

'Yes, I know him. Gods only know what he is doing here though. Eldridge is from a town about a days ride across the boarder of Cenred's Kingdom. He's never been to Camelot before in his life.'

' If this fellow Eldridge has never been to Camelot maybe this isn't him. Just look at the man Gwaine, I doubt his own mother could recognise him right now.' Arthur suggested gently. He was trying to calm Gwaine down. Reassure him. The knight had taken on a sickly pallor and his hands were shaking uncontrollably making the liquid in his flask slop from side to side.

'I have looked at him Arthur and I know that is my friend, just as surely as you would know if it was Gwen, or Merlin lying there.' Gwaine spat back at his King.

Merlin decided it was time he defused and took control of the situation. Not that he would ever let Arthur think that he was no longer control, there were just times when the King needed to be guided to say and do the right things. Now was one of those times.

'Arthur, it doesn't matter who this person is' started Merlin as Gwaine shot him a sudden look of hurt and anger. Merlin turned to address both of the men, his voice firm, 'It doesn't matter who he is Gwaine, because he is hurt and he needs help now. Whoever he is, whether he is your friend Eldridge or not, he is probably someone's friend and we should do what we can for him.'

Arthur looked at Merlin, this had to be one of those times Merlin comes out with something sensible. Merlin's compassion, and dare he say, wisdom still managed to surprise Arthur even after knowing him all these years.

'Your right Merlin', Arthur stated. 'This man needs help; we will take him to Giaus immediately.'

Gwaine let out a sigh of relief. No matter what the other two thought he knew that this man was Eldridge, and Gwaine was worried. Not only about his friends life, but about why Eldridge would make the journey to Camelot in the first place.

Moving the injured man was precarious, however there probably weren't a better three in the kingdom suited to the job. They had all had experience in moving more than enough gravely injured men. As Merlin and Arthur prepared the injured man to be moved Gwaine quickly mounted his horse and returned to Camelot. Giaus needed to be wared so that he could prepare to treat the man's injuries as soon as he arrived.

Glancing up at Gwaines retreating figure Merlin could help but worry. Gwaine had seemed so certain that this was his friend. Merlin could recall several tales Gwaine had told him over the years involving his friend Eldridge. The stories had often ended up with one or both of them getting drunkenly into a situation so bizarre that Merlin was usually convinced that Gwaine was making it all up. Especially, since in the tales the men routinely found their way out of the situations will little consequences. Merlin remembered that Gwaine had told him that Eldridge was a carpenter by trade with a solid business in his home town. Merlin began to wonder 'What could have happened to make Eldridge come all this way to Camelot?'

It took longer than either Merlin or Arthur were comfortable in binding the man's injuries best they could and securing him to Merlin's horse. The longer they took to get him back to Camelot the smaller his chance of survival. Eventually they had finished and set off towards the city, hurrying as much as they dared not wanting to aggravate the damage to the poor man's body.

Merlin glanced back one last time at the place the man had been laying. There was blood covering the ground making the once green grass slick and red with blood. About to turn away in disgust something caught the corner of Merlin's eye. Walking over the patch cautiously, he spied a brown leather satchel with its contents strewn under the bush. Merlin quickly bent down and picked up the bad, trying to shove the contents back in it. If it was the poor man's belongings he would surely want them if he survived, reasoned Merlin.

'What are you doing Merlin?! We need to hurry!' snapped Arthur, his voiced laces with concern and worry, not only for the dying man, but also for Gwaine.

'I think I found his things, he'll want them when he wakes...'

'He wont wake Merlin unless we get him to Gias now!' interrupted Arthur.

Merlin jumped up, flinging the satchel over his shoulder and leaving the rest of the belongings on the ground. Arthur was right, the injured man needed medical help more than he needed his things.

Merlin, Arthur and the injured man set off for Camelot. They could only hope that Giaus could do something for the poor man, although neither truly believed he could. He man's life, was slipping away quickly and with it the knowledge of who he really was and what he was doing in Camelot.

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**So reviews make me happy. I don't care what they say- although I would prefer it if they were in English, and made a little sense **


	6. Gaius

**Howdy peeps and peepets. How are we all? **

**So here is another chapter. I wrote this one last week and never got around to uploading it which I am now very grateful about. This weekend has been insanely busy. In Australia it was a long weekend, on Saturday there was the AFL grad final (which requires celebrating even though no-one I know even likes the Hawks or Swans), Saturday night I went out with my friends to celebrate my birthday, which was Sunday, and then Sunday I was running around like a crazy person. Finally Monday which most people had off I had to work. I hope this chapter is still good. I haven't really read over it since I wrote it last Thursday (I apologise for my grammar, typos, etc)**

**On an actual story related note- All the stuff I have written in here about the…..I guess you would call it the epistemology of magic…..I made up. I hope it fits in with Merlin, but I apologise if it doesn't. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or Arthur or the BBC, but I do now own a new shiny chain for my cameo, 2 blocks of chocolate, a pot plant, new face moisturiser, some loose leaf white jasmine tea, a new shirt, new eye shadow, an entire batch of ANZAC biscuits (well maybe not a whole batch anymore) and a new necklace.**

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Gwaine hadn't moved from the chair in Gaius' chambers since the injured man had arrived. Gwaine clutched the satchel with the man's belongings like it was the only thing keeping the man lying on the cot alive. Gaius had done everything he could for the man they had brought in from the woods. His injuries were terrible enough to even make the experienced physician pale when he saw them. Gaius had worked tirelessly to try and help him, yet the best he had managed was to keep him alive for now. The man was lying, as still as death itself on the cot, his chest barely moving has he breathed. Gaius hovered over the man, expecting him to take a turn for the worse at any moment. He didn't expect him to live through the coming night, he had not expected him to live through the previous one, yet he did. Perhaps this man would surprise them all, the physician thought, and live.

Gaius glanced over at the exhausted knight who had taken up residence in one of his chamber's chairs. Gwaine's face looked haggard. Dark circles sat beneath his eyes, the stubble on his chin looked even more scruffy than usual, and the knight's eyes were glazed over and dull. If Gaius hadn't run out of his sleeping potions he would have been tempted to drug the man just so he would get some sleep.

Gaius leaned over the injured man to check that he was still breathing and his injuries for infection.

'How is he Gaius?' queried Gwaine, his voice laden with weariness and concern.

'There is no change I am afraid Gwaine. I have done all I can for him. This man's fate is now in his own hands. Your fate on the other hand I am definitely able to have a hand in.'

The elderly physician turned to look at Gwaine directly in his eyes, raising his eyebrow at the same time.

'I always know I am in trouble when you start raising your eyebrow at me,' Gwaine said with a sad smile in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Gias sighed and dejectedly shook his head while a ghost of a smile graced his face.

'Gwaine, you need sleep….', Gwaine had opened his mouth to protest but Gaius continued on ignoring him,'…. in a _bed_, for more than a few minutes at a time. If there is any change in his condition we can come and fetch you, but you are doing yourself no favours staying here.'

'I can't just leave him here Gaius. When….when he wakes up he won't know anyone, he won't know where he is. He will need to see a familiar face. I won't just leave him.'

Several emotions flashed across the knights face, the most prevalent of them being grief, anger, confusion, frustration and finally exhaustion. Gaius looked at Gwaine with overwhelming pity and sympathy. He knew what it was like to be able to do nothing while someone you cared about was fighting for their life. He had been through it often enough with Merlin for the feeling to be too familiar for comfort.

At that moment Merlin strode into the chambers determinedly, but faltered when he saw Gwaine still sitting in the chair he had left him in. Merlin stared at Gwaine like he was a problem he needed to work around.

'Merlin. Why aren't you out hunting with Arthur?' asked Gwaine

'He thought I would be more needed here, helping Gaius,' he explained gently to the knight, 'what are you still doing here, you need to get some sleep.'

'Just what we were discussing,' interjected Gaius, 'you _need_ to go to bed' Gaius commanded rounding on the knight once more, his eyebrow once again rising to a towering height.

'And _I told you_, I'm not going to leave him to wake up in a strange place with strange people around him.'

'Why don't you take my bed' offered Merlin, 'that way you can get some sleep, and you will just be in the other room, close enough so that if anything happens we can get you straight away.'

Gwaine stared into space as if he was considering the offer, when in reality he was already half asleep where he sat. The satchel he had clutched so tightly earlier slipped from his grip and fell to the floor, with a thud, jerking Gwaine back to reality momentarily.

'Come on, you know it makes sense, and you need to get some rest. You're no good to anyone dead on your feet.' Merlin gently nudged him into standing and guided him towards his room.

'Guess your right Merlin' Gwaine slurred through his haze of exhaustion.

'Good man, now onto the bed we go' Merlin muttered as he half lowered, half dropped his friend onto the mattress.

Gwaine was asleep before his head had hit the pillow. Merlin bent down over his friend to make sure that he was really asleep. He stood up with a satisfied smile and his face. Gaius was standing in the doorway, looking over at the exhausted knight.

'Finally, I thought he was never going to get some sleep.' Gaius said to his ward.

'Why didn't you just drug him Gaius?' Merlin asked flippantly.

Gaius' jaw dropped as he started at Merlin indignantly. 'I don't just drug people every time they don't do what I ask.' Gaius said defensively, 'Besides, I've run out of sleeping potions.'

Merlin turned his back to the physician and rolled his eyes knowingly.

'It would be best if Gwaine could sleep for several hours,' Gaius said looking pointedly at Merlin

Merlin sighed, bent over his friend once more and muttered,'_Swefe nu'_, as his eyes burned gold. Merlin turned to Gaius 'he should be deeply asleep for the next couple of hours.'

Both Merlin and Gaius walked back into the main chamber closing the bedroom door behind him.

'How is he?' asked Merlin indicating to the prone form of the injured man in front of them.

'He's dying Merlin. He might survive tonight, he might even survive tomorrow, but no man can survive with those injuries and live to tell the tale.'

'Well then maybe we should make sure he has a _miraculous_ recovery, hey Gaius', Merlin suggested with a devious smirk on his face.

'Merlin you can't!'

'Why not? He's Gwaine's friend, or at least Gwaine thinks this is his friend, I can't just let him die and do nothing.' Merlin tried to explain

'Magic can't fix everything Merlin. There are always consequences.'

'Well at the moment all I can see are the consequences of letting him die. If it is his friend it would destroy Gwaine, and there is no time to work out whether it is or it isn't before this man dies. ….besides honestly I don't think it matters. There is a man dying, I can do something about it, so I should.' Merlin sighed and suddenly looked much older than his years. 'I have had to take so many lives with magic, to protect Camelot, to protect Arthur, to create our future. And I can't regret those actions because I know it was for the greater good, but sometimes I want to use my magic for something that is just simply good. There is no grey area in saving a life, it is an act that couldn't be seen as evil. Saving a life is a beautiful thing, isn't that why you have dedicated your life to it?

Gaius looked at his ward with love and affection. Merlin's heart was so big, he always wanted to do the right thing, and help those he could.

'Don't you think it would look suspicious if a man who was on his death bed is suddenly healed?'

Merlin's face lit up as he knew that his guardian had essentially just consented to him healing the man.

'I've been thinking about that and I think I have a solution. Instead of healing him all at once I will do a spell that will heal his internal injuries at once, and then slowly heal his visible wounds. The visible wounds should heal almost no faster than they would normally, but they would be guaranteed to not be infected. Brilliant right?!'

Gaius shook his head at his wards confidence of his skills, thinking that one day his foolish enthusiasm and cocky confidence would get him in trouble.

'Yes brilliant, but _I _have never heard of such a spell' Gaius pointed out

'Yes, well that might be because one doesn't exist, but I have been working on creating one…'

'Merlin!' Gaius half yelled in horror, 'you can't just make-up a spell! There are rules, boundaries, elemental impossibilities that you need to be aware of. Magic bends and recreates the very fabric of our existence. Every time you utter a spell or use magic you are not simply making something occur you are re-writing the world around you to suit your own purpose. When you use elemental magic nature itself is the guiding how you are altering the world and ensuring that the balance is maintained. But creating a spell requires a deep and detailed knowledge of how the world is not only taken apart, but also put back together, as the person who utters the enchantment is directing how the magic occurs and is therefore responsible! There is a reason that new spells are hardly ever created!'

'Hardly ever?' asked Merlin

That had to be the part that his ward paid attention to.

'There have been a few very powerful sorcerers, warlocks and witches in the past who have been able to create their own spells, but they had dedicated their lives to the study of the old religion and the natural sciences in order to understand what they were doing. Although there is no doubt you are powerful my boy, your knowledge of the old religion, magical philosophy and the natural sciences are in their infancy. Creating a spell is not something to take lightly.'

Merlin looked dejectedly at the ground, after being chastised by Gaius.

Satisfied that he had gotten his point across to his impulsive ward, Gaius let out a sigh of relief.

'Now, could you please watch over the poor man for me? Lady Clarine requires my presence for yet another ailment, and demands to be treated by no other than the court physician. I shouldn't be too long, and _please_ don't do anything impulsive while I am gone.' Gaius pleaded.

'Of course I will watch over him Gaius, don't worry.'

After Gaius had exited the chambers and was well on his way to Lady Clarine's chambers it finally occurred to him that Merlin hadn't actually agreed to not do anything impulsive.

Merlin lent over the injured man. Gaius had been gone for over an hour already. The man's breathing was becoming more and more laboured with longer periods of time in-between each breath. Merlin glanced worriedly over at the chamber door willing Gaius to return sooner, while at the same time knowing that there was very little that he could do for the man.

The injured man let out a rattling breath, and Merlin anxiously waited to hear the sound of his next breath. The silence stretch longer and longer and Merlin realised that the next breath he was waiting for was not going to come. Merlin looked down over the man and in that instance decided that if he could do something he should. Not just for Gwaine, and not just for the unknown man lying in front of him, but because simply it _was_ the right thing to do.

Merlin stood over the man, concentrated deeply , spoke the words he had put together last night and hoped that it was not too late.

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**Please review, you know it's the nice thing to do…..**


	7. Boom

**I apologise for any typos, bad grammar, and changes in tenses- I haven't edited this overly well (if at all). This has pretty much taken me all day to write, and to be honest I don't really like the chapter, but I can't seem to get it right to this will have to do. **

**Merlin on Sunday- that was pretty epic (and shirtless). I kind of loved it when Gwaine said to Morgana 'we have to stop meeting like this.' I hate Mordred already. **

**Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or a working microwave, or an intergalactic space station. **

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A bright white orb began to glow from beneath Merlins hands, blinding the warlock. Merlin looked over the injured man and saw that his magic was working. The swelling on his face was going down and his sickly pallor was changing to a more healthy pink. Merlin grinned goofily at his apparent success. He tried to pull his hands away and stop the healing process, before the man was fully healed, but he couldn't.

There was an invisible power forcing Merlin hands to remain in place. The white orb emitting from his hands began to expand at an alarming rate, bathing the entire room in blinding whiteness. The grin on Merlin's face quickly fell as he began to struggle in earnest against the raw magic what was flowing out of his hands. The room was now so bright that Merlin couldn't even see the injured man in front of him. Panic set in as Merlin realised that he had no control over the magic he had begun; he desperately pulled at his own arms trying to shift them from their suspended position above the man. Suddenly the white orb paused as if it had reached an invisible barrier; it pushed once, twice, three times the barrier, before collapsing inwards at a staggering speed. At the same time that Merlin's arms fell free. He fell forward for a moment onto the injured man in front of him before he was thrown backwards across the room. The white orb had exploded in a pulse of pure white light which expanded throughout the room shattering jars, throwing chairs against the walls and pushing over book cases.

An eerily silence fell across the room. The room was in disarray with not a single object standing or intact except for the pallet in the middle of the room that the injured man was laying on. Merlin groaned as he woke up, unsure of how long he had been unconscious. He was lying sprawled on the floor amongst the wreckage. He gingerly began to sit up on the floor, while looking around him trying to survey the damage. Merlin blinked rapidly trying to clear the black dots that were dancing across his vision. It was at this moment that the door to the healer's chambers opened and Gaius walked through it. The look of shock on Gaius's face would have been amusing, if Merlin was not still dazed from the explosion. Gaius quickly shut the door behind him to make sure that no-one would see the destruction within the room.

'Merlin! Merlin!', Gaius yelled as he rushed to his wards side.

Merlin was trying to focus on Gaius, but found his gaze kept roaming around the room, not really taking anything in. Shaking his head he willed himself to look at the physician.

'Is he alive?', Merlin croaked out as he looked up at the injured man.

Gaius sighed in both intense relieve and frustration. His ward was fine. It was times like this that he tended to agree with Arthur, his ward was an idiot. But at least he was alive.

Gaius carefully walked over to the injured man to check on him. He looked good, too good. He was breathing steadily, he was a healthy pink colour, the swelling on his face was almost completely gone. Gingerly pulling open the bandages that covered his middle Gaius could see that all that was left of the gash was a thin pink scar.

'Oh Merlin, what have you done.' Gaius' voice was laced with awe, worry and frustration. 'How are we supposed to explain this?' he asked as he gestured not only to the healed man, but also to the destroyed room.

Merlin finally dragged himself to his feet and focused not on the destruction that his healing magic had wrought, but on the man on the pallet.

'He's alive, I did it. It worked Gaius, not how it was supposed to obviously,' he said as he glanced around the room, still in disbelief that he did all of this, 'but I healed him. He was dead for a second, and now he's not.'

'He _died?_ Oh Merlin what _have_ you done? There is always a price.'

'I think the destruction that spell wrought is price enough, don't you Gaius,' Merlin said cheerily, his current success putting him in exceptionally good mood.

'We both know it doesn't work like that Merlin,' said Gaius, still wary of the whole situation, 'The price may not yet be apparent, but there is always a price.'

'Well let's worry about that later, for now I need to clean this place up, before anyone comes to visit us or Gwaine wakes up. Who knows, maybe I've paid enough in my life so this one is a freebie. I am so glad that I put that sleeping spell on Gwaine, imagine trying to explain all this to him if he woke up now!'

Gaius shook his head worriedly, as he began to sweep up the wreckage that his chambers now were. There was no point trying to argue with his ward now, what's done is done, he could only hope that the price that was to be paid wouldn't be more than what Merlin was willing to pay.

After a very busy hour, filled with hard work and just a little magic, the chambers were back in order. Gaius had tightly wrapped up the patient's stomach as if it was still injured. He then placed a foul smelling green paste over his face to hide the lack of bruising; hoping that those that came to check on him wouldn't examine his face too closely.

Merlin placed the injured man's satchel on the chair next to the pallet, and looked around the room.

'That's it. All tidy. I should probably go and do my chores for Arthur before he gets back. I shouldn't be too long. Gwaine will probably wake up within the hour.'

Merlin looked over at Gaius taking in the worried look on the elderly man's face. He was clearly still preoccupied with the 'price' that was to be paid for Merlin's magic.

'It'll be alright Gaius. Don't worry so much. Be happy, a man who was going to die, isn't. How can that be a bad thing?'

'Your right Merlin' Gaius smiled weakly at his ward, 'The saving of a man's life is a happy occasion.'

Merlin rushed out the door eager to do his chores as quickly as possible so that he could check back on Gwaine before Arthur returned at sunset. He knew Gaius was still worried, he was too, but for now he would take the win and be happy. In Camelot that seemed the best anyone could ever hope for.

Merlin returned to the physician's chambers long after the sun had set. It had taken him longer than he had anticipated to clean Arthurs chambers, and Arthur had returned before he was done. That had then meant he had to run after the prat before he could go back to check on Gwaine. Arthur had demanded that he get his bath water, clean his armour, return his bow and arrows to the armoury, and then serve him at the banquet- which have been happening every night of the hunt. When the King had finally retired for the night Merlin dashed out of his chambers, and skidded around the corner of the hallway as he hurried back to Gaius' chambers, exhausted but eager to check on the occupants.

Merlin cautiously opened the door to the chamber, not wanting to disturb anyone within if they were sleeping. He quietly stepped into the chambers and saw Gwaine again occupying the chair by this friend and Gaius at his workbench in the corner, most likely trying to replace the potions that were lost in today's destruction.

'Merlin' Gwaine looked up and greeted him, 'Arthur working you to the bone again?'

Gwaine's signature cheeky smile once again graced his face. 'Gaius seemed to think you were going to be back hours ago.'

'Oh well, you know Arthur, can't do anything without me. The country would practically fall to bits if I wasn't running around cleaning up the dollop head's messes.'

Gwaine chuckled at Merlin.

'How's the patient?' asked Merlin

'Much better, isn't he Gaius? It's miraculous really, but I'm not complaining!'

'Yes our patient has seemed to make an almost magical recovery Merlin'

'That's great, so he'll live?'

'Yes Merlin, he will live.'

The chambers which had been so full of despair earlier in the day were now full of hope. Gwaine was looking well rested, the critically ill patient was mending, and as of yet no one had paid the 'price' for these changes. Merlin collapsed into a chair next to Gwaine, weary from running around after Arthur. The three men stayed in a companionable silence for a time, each busy with their own thoughts, or in Gaius' case busy replacing his supply of potions. After a time Merlin pulled himself to his feet.

'I'm off to bed. Arthur wants me out hunting with him tomorrow. Gods knows why, when I come all he does is complain about how I scare off the animals.'

As he began to walk to his chambers Gwaine suddenly jumped to his feet and pointed to the injured man.

'He's waking up!'

'Are you sure Gwaine?'

'I'm sure Gaius, his arm moved. See there it went again.'

Sure enough the injured man was beginning to move restlessly on the pallet. Gwaine, Merlin and Gaius moved to the man's side, examining him with eager anticipation. The injured man's eyes then fluttered open and took in Gaius' face and then Merlin's before finally settling on Gwaine's.

'Gwaine!' he exclaimed weakly, 'I found you. I was looking for you….no I was coming to Camelot….no there was something in the bushes…' His face was scrunched up on confusion as he tried to put his memories in order to remember what had happened to him.

'Eldridge, buddy, it is you.' Gwaine exclaimed in recognition and relief.

'Of course it is me. Who else would I be?' Eldridge muttered still groggy and confused at his situation.

'You were hurt pretty bad mate. You need to rest, get better.' Gwaine told him gently.

'No! No! You don't understand. I was coming to find you. I need your help.' Eldridge's eyes suddenly opened wide in realisation and horror. 'My satchel! Where is my satchel?! I need it! It has to be here.'

He was trashing around his bed searching desperately and wildly for his bag.

Gwaine held him down on the pallet, while talking soothingly to him- trying to calm him down and prevent him from hurting himself in his panic.

Merlin quickly glanced around the room, and his gaze landed on the bag which was on the floor next to the chair Gwaine had been sitting on. He swiftly picked it up and showed it to Eldridge.

'It's here. Your satchel is right here.' Merlin said calmly while holding it up for the panicked man to see.

Eldridge immediately calmed down, sighed in relief and laid back down on the bed.

'Here, drink this,' Gaius handed Eldridge the potion he had been working on only moments ago.

Eldridge took the potion and looked at it sceptically. He looked over to Gwaine as if to ask what he should do. Gwaine nodded his head slightly indicating that he could trust the elderly physician. Eldridge then lifted the bottle to his lift and swiftly drank the entire potion.

'What was that?' he asked

'A sleeping potion, it will help you to calm down and rest', replied Gaius.

This seemed to make Eldridge panic immediately. 'No, No! I can't sleep. Not yet. I need to tell you….' His eyes started to droop as the potion began to take effect, '…..I need to tell you…..about…..about…..' His head kept falling forward, but Eldridge kept jerking it back, determined to stay awake until he had told Gwaine what he needed. 'The arrows….they will hit…..anything.'

Gaius, Gwaine and Merlin all looked at each other clearly confused about what Eldridge was trying to say.

'Just sleep now mate, you can tell us in the morning.' Gwaine told him soothingly

'No! It might be too late then….. he could be here by then…..' Eldridge's head jerk back up one last time as he stared at Gwaine and mumbled, '…they're gonna kill the King with….' before finally falling into a deep, drugged sleep.

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**Yeah another cliff hanger- I did that. You know what you should do- review. **


	8. The Bad Guys

**Hello all! Sorry for the slight delay in updating. I have 101 excuses that I will not bore you with.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter: jediyam, IndiaMoore, ReadingRaven019, Starkid191 and Vanessa**

**I also apologise that this chapter is an OC focused chapter, but it is necessary for the plot to continue. This is the last OC focused chapter- I know this because I spent some time in the last week planning out where this story was going. So I now know I have roughly have 6 more chapters after this one to finish off the story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own: Merlin, Arthur, the BBC, a red cardigan, a cake, a yacht, or a Deathstar**

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Condry dragged the girl behind him while roughly shoving her brother forward in front of him. He had had to force the girl to come along every step of the way, while her brother had meekly followed his directions. Snivelling simpleton, Condry thought about the brother.

The travellers were making their way through the lower town attracting a few curious looks from the townsfolk due to Condry's manhandling of his companions. The travellers had made it to Camelot in surprisingly good time, considering the unwillingness of most of the group. Condry had had to keep an eye on the girl most of the way. She was always trying to sneak off or, as he accidentally found out, poison his dinner. He discovered her weakness through. She actually cared about her brother. The snivelling git appeared to not care less about his sister, but she on the other hand didn't manage to escape on one occasion as she doubled back for him. The poison attempt had failed as Joseph, the greedy fool, went to sneak a spoon full of his dinner before him, and Olive in a panic knocked the spoon out of his hand.

Condry shoved the pathetic Joseph forward again while yanking the girl in front of him so that she could not do anything untoward without him seeing. He couldn't go on in this manner. For his job he needed stealth, patience, and above all complete concentration. He needed to find a way to control the two of them without looking like a herder trying to manage a flock of unruly sheep. He would have disposed of them already but he thought the girl might be a useful bargaining chip with Eldridge. Olive had claimed that they had only been friends a long time ago, but from the snippets of information that the pathetic Joseph had offered along the trip he was beginning to suspect their relationship was a little more intimate than that. He had found himself in a situation where he needed Olive to potentially control Eldridge, and he needed Joseph to control Olive. He was collection people faster than gold. Why couldn't the job just be easy? All he wanted to do was find the arrows, make the hit, collect his payment and hightail it out of there.

By this time the sun was beginning to set over the city. The travellers had just reached the outskirts of the citadel, and Condry paused to assess his options while flipping his dagger back and forth casually in his hand while he thought through his situation. He needed sneak through the castle, but he couldn't every well do it while dragging two people kicking and screaming.

'Where are we going?' Olive demanded to know

'Shut your mouth, I'm thinking' snapped back Condry

'You can't drag us around after you forever! Just let us go and we will head straight back home, we won't bother anyone'

Condry had heard all of this before; the begging, the pleading, the negotiating. The problem was that Olive was essentially a decent person. If it was just her brother, he probably would have cut him loose days ago. Joseph was such as selfish excuse for a human being that Condry knew that if he let him go he would scamper off into the distance, with his only concern being for his own skin. Olive on the other hand was moral, and that was a problem. He let them go the first thing she would do would be was try and find Eldridge to warn him that he was in trouble, and he couldn't afford that.

'Please, just let Joseph go, you can't possibly need both of us.' She pleaded with Condry again 'Joseph wont cause you any trouble, will you Joseph?'

'That right! Let me ago and you'll never hear from me again. You can't really need me as well as Olive. Having two of us is just making life hard for you.'

'I said SHUT UP' the burly man bellowed at his two captives. He stared at them in anger and annoyance while waving his dagger threateningly in their direction. 'If I hear one more word out of either of you I will carve out _his_ tongue, and feed it to _you_ sweetheart.'

Olive glared at Condry, contemplating whether the brute would actually carry out his threat, while Joseph shrunk back into himself, trying to appear as small and insignificant as possible.

Condry sighed; he needed to find something to do with them but that would have to wait. He was already late.

'Move, along the wall, that way,' he indicated with his dagger.

The siblings sullenly walked forward in the direction that he had indicated. Condry knew it was around here somewhere he just wasn't sure where. The group continued walking in a strained silence for several minutes until he saw it. A small metal door set into the wall of the citadel, it was meant to be an escape for the nobility if the citadel was ever taken. Although with Camelot's history it seemed more likely it was there for _when_ the citadel was taken _again_.

'Oi, you two, stop walking,' Condry commanded in a harsh whisper.

The clear still night made the thug's voice carry. There was no-one to be seen anymore, as most of Camelot's citizens had either retired to their homes for dinner, or headed to a tavern by this point. The silence of the night was once again disturbed as Condry used the haft of his dagger to sound out a series of knocks on the metal door. There was then the sound of metal grating on stone as the door was roughly jerked open.

'You're late!' a cultured voice whispered conspirituality to Condry, 'and who are they?'

'Got here as soon as I could, you gonna let us in or not Haughty?'

The man on the other side of the door visibly stiffened at the disrespectful tone and nickname that Condry had addressed him with.

'You cannot speak to me in such a manner, and you still haven't told me who they are' Haughty replied drily .

' _They_ are leverage, and _you_ are going to be a bloodied noble if you don't let us in already' Condry spat back while he shiftily glanced around him making sure they had not yet been spotted by Camelot's guards.

Haughty looked puzzled, and annoyed by the attitude that the thug was taking with him; however, he stepped aside letting the group into the narrow tunnel.

'Lead the way, _Lord_ Haughty.' Condry condescendingly indicated that the new man should direct the group where to go. Condry shoved his two travelling companions in front of him, leaving himself to follow the group from behind. He then turned around and closed the metal door, blocking all light out of the tunnel save from the torch in the noble's hands. The dank tunnels twisted and turned with many passages leading off the true path, obviously intended to confuse and lose unwelcome guests.

'All mazes and passages in Camelot have a surprisingly similar layout that is quiet easy to discover,' began the haughty noble, eager to show off his intelligence, 'if one simply always turns left then it is possible to navigate the tunnels from beginning to end without becoming lost.'

Condry merely grunted from the back of the group, unimpressed or interested in the facts that the man was so proudly spouting. The groups eventually came to a small alcove with another door in it. The noble timidly pushed the door open and peered out. When he determined that the coast was clear on the other side he beckoned the group through. They were now in a small hallway, which had several cells on either side of it. The hallway that they were in was covered in a thick layer of dust, with only a single set of footprints imprinted in it to show that anyone had been that way recently. The cells in the hallway had clear signs of disuse. The keys were in the locks, several of the cells had bars that were rusted through making them useless and they all housed an impressive number of very large spider webs.

'This is as far as you will go with me,' the noble commanded, 'after I am long gone if you follow this hallway to the end and then turn left you will be emptied into the main dungeons. The guards change on the hour, and it is horribly simple to slip by them.'

Condry merely grunted his acknowledgement at the man. There was a tense silence, as the noble stared down the brute; with a small smirk on his face as if he knew something the criminal didn't. Eventually he asked the thug, 'I don't understand why you asked to be snuck into the castle, when you are to do the job in the forest?'

The look on Condry's face was almost comical, he had gone from looking like a murderous thug one moment to a shame faced little boy the next. The burley man shuffled his feet while looking at the ground, then peered up at the noble before spitting out in a rush of words, 'I lost the arrows.'

'Really, you lost the arrows' the noble sarcastically replied to the thug, 'well I would have never guessed that if I hadn't already seen them being carried back to the castle by the King's servant in a satchel that belonged to a bloodied, half-dead man.

At this news Olive gasped and paled, wondering what could have possibly happened to Eldridge to put him such a condition. Both the thug and the noble turned their heads to glare at the girl for interrupting their conversation. All the while Joseph had not moved from his position cowering behind his sister.

'I suggest', continued the noble, 'that you go and get the arrows back and do the job like we planned. '

Condry nodded, he had not been looking forward to offing the King in the castle, as it severely limited his escape route, but he had been hired to do a job and he was a man of his word. So when he had lost the arrows, he was going to kill the King, one way or another. The original plan in the forest was defiantly a better one, much easier for him to get away.

The noble turned to walk away, but Condry called him back, 'aren't you forgetting something?'

'Oh yes my next payment installation, how could I possibly forget', the noble paced back to the group and pulled an amulet out of his pocket. 'Solid gold, forged in my grandfather's mint, one of only two left in existence. I still think it is a mighty high price to pay for you to kill one man.'

Condry snatched the amulet off the noble. 'It's not just for killing any old man now is it. It is for killing the King, and finding those blasted arrows in the first place.'

The noble shot the thug a sly smirk, 'True, true. I will see you for the last of your payment when the deed is done.' He then handed Condry the torch, turned on his heel and left the group.

Condry then turned to the siblings and regarded them cynically. He couldn't very well go traipsing around the castle with them in tow. He examined the cells which lined the hall and spied one that was mostly intact with its key in the lock. Roughly grabbing Olive by her dress he dragged her over to the cell. Opening it, he threw her in, before turning to grab Joseph and shoving him in after her. Joseph fell on top of his sister with a solid thud. Condry then locked the cell and pocketed the key.

'You two will stay put and stay quiet. Do you understand me?'

Joseph meekly nodded, while Olive glared back at their captor. Condry figured enough time had passed for him to sneak out of the dungeons. He needed to steal back some arrows before tomorrow. After all he was on a deadline and he had a King to kill.

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**So reviews are nice, and confidence boosting **

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**BELOW IS A SLIGHT SPOILER FOR THE LATEST EPISODE**

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**What did you all think of Arthur making Mordred a knight? Merlin has saved Arthur plenty more times than that (that Arthur actually knows about as well) and he is still a servant! Also Mordred can't be good. I don't believe that redemption line for a second!**


	9. Late Breakfasts and Sneaky Brutes

**I'm Sorry. I'm so so so so so so so so sorry. I hope you all didn't think that I had abandoned you. I have been helping my Dad out during harvest this last month, which has meant working 10 plus hour days, 13 days at a time. I have literally not had a spare moment to update this. To those that are still with me- thank you for your patience. To those that aren't, well you're not reading this anyway so I think you are all smelly. **

**I will give you fair warning this time- I am going to Melbourne next week for a conference (coz I am fancy like that now). So I will not be updating next week, but after that I will be back to my weekly updates. **

**Again so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or a computer that doesn't constantly freeze, or an accepted Research Proposal (but I am hoping that one will change)**

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Condry had been sneaking around the castle for hours now. He had no idea where he was, or where he was supposed to be going. He had been trying to find the physicians quarters, as he assumed that a badly injured man would be staying there, but where the hell they were in the maze of the castle he had no idea. Turing around a corner he bumped into a rather tall lanky looking man, with messy black hair, wearing a bright red neckerchief, and carrying a large tray of food. The tray began to tumble from the lanky mans' hands, when, with an ease that spoke of much practice, he managed to right the tray and its contents.

'So sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, I never really expect anyone else to be up at this hour.' The lanky man exclaimed.

Condry grunted back at the lanky man, hoping the servant would let it go. He needed to be forgettable, unmemorable, while walking around the castle. He couldn't be seen by everyone and still get away with what he was planning. The servant hadn't moved out of Condry's way, but was regarding him with confusion and curiosity.

'Are you lost?' the servant asked.

Condry contemplated his answer. He was well and truly lost but he didn't want anyone to know where he was going. On the other hand he had already been wandering around this castle since nightfall and it was now fast approaching dawn. Soon the castle would be crawling with people and he would never be able to sneak back down to the dungeons then. Throwing caution to the wind Condry decided he would take the risk.

'Yeah, yeah I am actually. I'm looking for the physicians quarters. My wife, she has a fever and I wanted to get something for her, to, you know, bring it down.'

'You're almost there. Just need to follow this corridor to the end and then turn right, go down two flights of stairs and it is the door at the south end of the hallway. Giaus, the physician, is still sleeping but he is always happy to help someone in need, so don't hesitate to wake him up. He might need a little prodding to be woken up, he's a heavy sleeper.' All of this was said with a large cheery smile upon the servants face. 'I hope your wife feels better soon.'

'Thanks mate' Condry mumbled to the servant as he took of down the corridor. He had to grab those arrows and he had no time to loose.

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Merlin glanced behind him at the rough looking man who was hurrying down the corridor. Odd fellow, he thought to himself, I wonder who would marry a man like that.

He was running late with Arthur's breakfast. Arthur had wanted to be up early so that he could be ready to depart on the hunt at sun up. He was determined that he would catch something today in the hunting competition. Arthur had still not managed to find any game of significance all week and he was beginning to become just a tad irritable.

Merlin rushed down the corridor, hoping that the King would not notice that his breakfast looked as if it had been tossed. He burst into the King's cambers, not knocking as per usual. Arthur was already up and dressed, sitting at the table with a very disapproving look upon his face.

'What time do you call this', Arthur asked Merlin dryly.

'Breakfast time?' Merlin replied with fake gusto, trying to distract Arthur by placing his sausages in front of him on the table.

'No _Mer_lin, breakfast time was half an hour ago, I would call right now, late.' At that moment he glanced down at the plate put before him. 'And what the hell have you done to my breakfast! It looks like you scrapped it off the floor and shoved it onto a plate!' Arthur looked worried all of a sudden, 'You didn't scrape it off the floor did you?'

'Of course I didn't scrape it off the floor…' Merlin replied indignantly to Arthur, before mumbling to himself, '…this morning.'

'I wanted to get off to a good start this morning with the hunt and now I am going to leave late. I'm already the laughing stock of most of the nobles. I am the King and I haven't been able to kill anything worthy of the competition that I organised!'

'Perhaps then, sire, you should just call it quits for the day. Bow out of the competition so to speak. I mean if you've not got a good start to the day, you haven't captured anything yet, and I'm sure there is more than enough work to do here running the Kingdom…..'

'Call it quits! Merlin, are you out of your mind.' Arthur stood abruptly, 'I mean I knew you were stupid, but really? I am the King, I do not just 'call it quits' on anything, let alone a _competition_, that _I _organised, against _my_ _own_ nobles, in _my_ _own_ forest, which is just outside _my own_ castle.' Arthur's voice had begun to be quite loud by the end of his rant, while he had been waving his arms in front of him as if to try and convey the absolute magnitude of Merlins stupidity.

'I just thought', began Merlin, 'that considering someone is trying to kill you, you might want to keep a low profile.'

'Merlin I understand your concern, I really do. But if I hid in my chambers every time someone wanted to kill me, I would never leave this room. It's better to just continue on as normal and to have faith in the vigilance of Camelot's guards as well as the integrity of the men around me. We don't even know the specifics of this supposed plot Merlin, and we are not going to know until Gwaine's friend wakes up.' Arthur sighed. 'Its times like these I really wish Gaius wasn't so liberal with his sleeping potions.'

'Gaius assures me that he should be awake not long after dawn.' Merlin added.

'I am going out hunting today. I am going to enjoy my hunting trip today. I am going to catch something today. But _you_', Arthur said poking Merlin in the chest, 'are going to stay here until Eldridge wakes. I need someone I trust to stay here and hear the poor man's story. You have to keep this quiet; it can't be common knowledge that there is potentially an assassin wandering around Camelot, or even the Castle. It would start a panic. Do you understand Merlin?'

'Yes, but….'

'No buts Merlin. Just say yes and do what you're told.'

Arthur was obviously finished with the conversation. Grabbing a sausage off his breakfast plate, he bit into it as he moodily exited his chambers. Halfway out the door Arthur turned around. 'I can trust you will have my horse ready on time….' He snipped pointedly at Merlin, before mumbling to himself, '…unlike my breakfast.'

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Condry finally came upon the door the lanky servant had directed him to. Pushing it open gingerly, he peered into the room. The smell of drying herbs, poultices, and potions assaulted his nose as soon as the door was opened. 'This is definitely the right place', Condry thought to himself. Condry slinked into the chambers quickly closing the door behind him. He could see the pathetic backstabbing Eldridge asleep on a cot near the centre of the room. Condry desperately wanted to finish off the twerp, but he had other more important things to take care of at this moment. Condry could see an old man with impressive eyebrows asleep in another cot in the corner. 'That must be the physician, I hope he is as sound sleeper as that servant seems to think he is' Condry thought.

Condry took in his surroundings not sure where to start. Usually when he wanted to find something he would just beat its location out of the nearest person. It was crude but almost always successful. Subterfuge and subtlety were not the brutes strong points. He began to walk across the room towards a table covered in jars. Before he had even taken two steps he stumbled over the edge of a chair and tripped into the bench he was walking towards, violently knocking the table and all of the jars on it. The table, and the jars on it made, what sounded like to Condry, a deafening sound. The old man in the corner, became restless, snorted twice in his sleep, rolled over, and then stilled again.

Condry let out a breath he hadn't even been aware that he had been holding. He looked over at Eldridge. The man hadn't stirred at all, maybe he was dead, thought Condry. If he was it would certainly make his job easier. Shrugging to himself, he began to look over the contents on the table. It was all just potions and medicines. The arrows weren't there. Spying a bottle of hemlock on the table he pocketed it. You never knew when a bit of poison would come in handy.

Condry sighed; he had already been in the room too long. The old man could wake up at any moment, he needed to find the arrows and get out of here. It was then he saw it, Eldridge's satchel. Condry scooped the satchel up and started to throw the contents out, desperate to find the arrows and leave. His hand clutched the long thin shape of the arrows within the bag, just as the old man in the corner began to stir in earnest. Dumping the satchel to the ground Condry began to dash to the exit. He ripped open the door and sprinted down the hallway elated. He had done it. He had the blasted arrows again, now he could finally finish the job off like it was originally planned and get out of Camelot.

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Gaius was not exactly sure what had just awoken him. He looked around his chambers half asleep, yet half concerned. He was sure something was not right. Gaius gingerly eased himself off his bed, his muscles protesting. He was not as young as he used to be and he defiantly felt it first thing in the morning. The physician wandered around the room, examining it with a critical eye. His chamber door was not closed properly, and although Merlin could have left it that way the old man had a feeling that this was not the case.

Gaius walked over to examine his patient, still feeling somewhat abashed for drugging the man so readily last night. Stepping towards the cot in the centre of the room he heard a crunch beneath his foot. Looking down Gaius saw the contents of Eldridge's bag strewn across the floor, with the bag itself lying underneath a bench. It was obvious that someone had been in here looking for something. Whether they found it and what it was, were questions that only Eldridge could answer when he woke up, but whatever it was one thing was certain. There was someone up to no good in the castle. Gaius had to tell the King, he had to warn him that the danger was closer than they all thought.

A loud horn blast could be heard from the main courtyard in front of the castle, as the first rays of sun coloured the sky. Gaius hurried to the window and looked out. A hoard of nobles, the King among them, raced out of the courtyard toward the forest upon their horses. Merlin was standing among the other groomsmen and servants watching their masters depart. The hunting competition had begun again for the day, Gaius was too late to inform Arthur, and the silly boy didn't even have Merlin with him to protect him. The old man sighed worriedly gazing out at the retreating backs of competitors. He only hoped that whoever went through Eldridge's things did not find what they were looking for and were still in the castle so that the King could be informed the moment he returned. He could only hope that this was not the last assassination attempt on Arthur's life, because if it was it would surely mean that it had succeeded.

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**So I know I abandoned you all for a while but that doesn't mean you should abandon reviewing (remember what mothers always say: two wrongs don't make a right)**


	10. Hunting the Hunter

Hey guys, hey guys hey guys...Guess what...I'm alive!

I have actually been writing little bits of this chapter here and there when I get time, just so I could get something done. I will now make my excuses (yet again) as to why I didn't update sooner...

1) I was at a conference (CAPA- which is the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations), in Melbourne

2) The reason I was at this conference is because I was elected President of my University's Postgraduate Student Association. My term started on the 1st of December and the previous President thought this would be a great time to go off to Ghana to do Red Cross Charity work, so I have been trying to work out what on earth I am doing on my own a lot!

3) Two of my best friends got married on the weekend and I was a bridesmaid so that had taken over a huge chunk of my life.

Now I have made all those excuses I will get on with why you are all here...the disclaimer (just joking)...the story

I do not own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or un-blistered feet, or time to sleep, or adult clothes. I do own...a new office with couches and everything (how fancy am I?!)

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Merlin didn't know what Arthur was thinking. Going off, traipsing around a forest where everyone is armed with at least bows and arrows, while there is an assassin out there. It was this kind of attitude that would get him actually killed one day, or would at least drive Merlin to despair running after him trying to make sure Arthur doesn't lose his royal head.

Merlin burst into Gaius' chambers and promptly sank into the nearest chair. He wasn't sure he could take much more of this. He needed a holiday, or a new life, or for Arthur to, at least, get a clue. Merlin closed his eyes for a moment, drew in a deep breath, steadied himself and then rose. Glancing over at the cot in the middle of the room he noticed that Eldridge was restless and twitching. Merlin began to look around the room for Gaius, but he wasn't there. At that moment the door to the chambers opened and in walked Gaius with Gwaine.

'He began to become restless just over an hour ago, so he should be awake very soon.'

'I can't wait to talk to him, to work out what in the five kingdoms is going on here. I still don't understand what he is doing in Camelot, or how he knows that Arthur is in danger,' Gwaine replied to the physician. 'Merlin mate, finally got a spare minute from washing Arthurs socks.'

'Well I'd prefer to wash Arthurs' socks than yours. I've told you once and I will say it again, the smell that comes from your feet is not natural or healthy.'

'I'd have to agree with you there. I've never smelt anything worse than that mans feet in my entire life,' said a croaky voice from the middle of the room.

The three men all turned suddenly to face the speaker. Eldridge was awake, and looking absurdly healthy for a man who had been recently gored by a wild boar. Gwaine's face lit up as he rushed over to his friend and embraced him.

'I really thought you were a goner, you stupid idiot.' Gwaine mumbled.

Merlin and Giaus looked on at the pair. Merlin was clearly ecstatic at the show of friendship between the pair. Giaus on the other had looked worried and pensive. He was well aware of what Merlin had had to do to make sure that Eldridge was still alive, and he couldn't help but think that this could only end badly.

Eldridge sat up and began to glace around the room. Seeing his satchel a look of pure relief washed across his face.

'Thank the Gods that you have it,' he said indicating to his bag. Picking up the bag he began to sort through its contents, slowly at first. Soon his searching became increasingly frantic, as he didn't find what he was looking for. Finally Eldridge tipped the satchel upside down, emptying the contents on to his bed. The satchel contained spare clothes, a dagger, travelling provisions and a sole arrow made from hazel wood.

Eldridge picked up the arrow, stared at it and started muttering, 'this isn't right, this can't be right.'

Looking up at his audience Eldridge demanded,' where are the other two? There should be two other arrows.'

'There was,' Merlin started looking confused. 'In the forest, when I picked up your things after they were scattered, I remember I picked up three arrows and put them in the bag.'

'So that's what was taken,' supplied Gaius.

The three other men focused their attention on the physician waiting for him to expand upon his statement.

'This morning when I woke up someone had been through these chambers. I wouldn't have noticed except that several things were out of place, and that bag had been moved. I wasn't sure that anything had been taken, but it appears that something has.'

'It is not just something! None of you have any idea what these arrows really are, do you? They are the Cantelon Arrows!'

'No, they can't be,' replied Gaius. 'Those arrows are a myth.'

Gwaine and Merlin looked at each other in confusion.

'And now he has two of them!' Eldridge continued, seemingly talking to himself now. 'I came here to warn your King, but now, I have pretty much killed him myself. I brought these arrows straight to where he wanted them! How could have I been so stupid?'

'Eldridge, mate, slow down and start from the beginning. What are these arrows? Who is this 'he'?'

Eldridge sighed deeply as his shoulders slumped forward. 'The he is named Condry.'

'Oh no! Not Stone Condry?' asked Gwaine, 'He is the best fix it man alive.' Turning to Merlin and Gaius he began to explain. 'You need a man to fix a problem, whether it be a person, object, situation or whatever, and you don't mind a few people dropping dead to get your solution, Stone Condry is your man.'

'Why is he called Stone Condry?' asked Merlin.

'No-one really knows for sure,' replied Gwaine, ' Some think it is his real first name, some say it is because when he hits you, it feels like you have been hit with a stone fist, while most think it is because if you come across him you need to find yourself a headstone fast, because you're a dead man. But these arrows, I've never heard of them.'

'I would be surprised if you had Gwaine. They are a myth,' said Gaius, 'even in the time of the Old religion no-one really believed they exist.'

'So what is so important about these arrows?' asked Merlin as he leaned forward to touch the single arrow remaining in their position. As his hand brushed against the shaft Merlin quickly pulled it back as he felt a sharp shock. Merlin shot Gaius a concerned glance. There was power in these arrows, and they were in the hands of an assassin.

Gaius sighed, 'If you think they are the Cantelon arrows then I better tell you their story. The legend goes that in the days of the Old Religion the hunt was revered. The priestess of the Old Religion would hold ceremonies to celebrate the life cycle; from birth, to life and finally death. The hunt was an essential part of these ceremonies, as the death of a stag would mark the end of one life cycle and the beginning of another.

The stag, could not just be any stag, it had to be a stag marked with the sign of the Goddess. The stag was hunted throughout the forest, and only once it was caught could the celebrations continue. One year no-one could bring down the mighty stag, so the celebration and rituals could not continue. Disheartened after weeks of hunting the priestess and their followers gave up and left the stag be.

This is often seen as the beginning of the end of the old religion. It was in the following months that people began to turn away from the Goddess and her priestesses to embrace new Gods. The priestess of the old religion panicked. They saw the fact that the stag was not caught and the celebration of the life cycle was not compete as the reason for why their way of life was beginning to die.

A group of priestess commissioned three arrows to be made; one to symbolise birth, one life and the final one death. The priestess then took these arrows and blessed them so that as long as the shooter could see their target, they would always aim true. Their intent was these arrows would be used so that the stag would never escape again, and the cycle of life and religion could continue, uninterrupted. But the arrows were never used, they were lost to the ages.'

'Until now,' added Eldridge. 'Condry found the arrows, and he had been commissioned to use them to kill your King.'

'This is absurd', interjected Gaius, ' those arrows may be magical, but you can't know for sure that they are the Cantelon arrows.'

'There were tests. Conrdy first tried to burn the arrows, and the wood was untouched. Next he placed the arrows in a bucket of water and they sank every time. Finally he walked he approached a snakes den with an arrow and all of the snakes fled.'

Gaius staggered and took a step back. His face was pale and he appeared horrified. 'Then they really are the arrows of legend, I never thought they were real.'

'What do we do then Gaius?' asked Merlin

'Arthur is in real danger. A Cantelon arrow never misses its target. You need to find this man, Condry, and you need to stop him.'

'Well then what are we waiting for Merlin, let's go!' exclaimed Gwaine as he started to stride towards the chamber door.

Merlin and Gaius exchanged a concerned look, there was no time for Gaius to convey any other information to Merlin.

'Wait, I'm coming to!'

'Eldridge, you're mad! You almost died only yesterday. You can't go running around a forest trying to find an assassin!' , commented Gwaine.

'I can and I will. It is my fault the arrows are even here. If I had never helped Condry, he would have never found the arrows, and then after I escaped with them, I stupidly brought them exactly where he wanted them. This is my fault! I feel fine, better then fine actually, and I'm going to fix my mistake. Actions have consequences, and I am going to take full responsibility for the havoc my actions have caused.'

With Eldridge's words Merlin felt a shift in the atmosphere around him. As if something had just changed, yet he wasn't sure what it was.

'Fine you can come, but this isn't your fault. You need to know that mate. Just promise me that you're not going to do anything stupid,' implored Gwaine.

'Me? Stupid? I think you have us mixed up', quipped Eldridge as he stood from the bed and pulled on his shoes.

Merlin, Gwaine and Eldridge made their way into the armoury. Gwaine began to put on his armour, before Merlin stopped him.

'You can't exactly sneak through a forest in full armour,' he explained.

'You're right Merlin, we want stealth, not force.' Grabbing a single sword Gwaine then commented, 'I guess I'm ready then hey.'

Eldridge was on the other side of the armoury examining the bows and arrows.

'I think I am going to take one of these', he said pointing to a bow,' just in case. Merlin, you should really take something.'

Merlin looked around the room. Anything in here would just be more of a hindrance than an asset when it really came down to it. His magic was what was going to protect him, not that the other two knew that.

'He's right Merlin, you can't go after a trained assassin unarmed, that would be suicide,' added Gwaine.

In order to appease his friends Merlin looked aimlessly around the armoury before his eyes landed on a dagger. It was small, easily concealed and wouldn't weigh him down.

'Here, happy now,' he said while tucking the dagger into this belt.

'Not really, but that is the most I've ever seen you arm yourself, aside from with a jar of ale, so I will have to be satisfied,' replied Gwaine. 'So off we go, to hunt the hunter.'

Their faces determined and grim the three companions set off toward the forest knowing that if they failed their King, and their friend would be dead, as would the bright future of Camelot.

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I love reviews; positive reinforcement makes my world go round, and around and around and around and around. So if you don't want the world to stop- review.


	11. The Skill of the Hunter

**Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoyed saying goodbye to 2012. This was supposed to be the second last chapter, but it was going to be too long. So I will finish the action-y stuff next chapter. **

**Also I hope you all enjoyed the last episode of Merlin. I personally kind of found it anti-climactic. I don't know, maybe I just disliked it because I didn't want Merlin to end. What did you all think of it?**

**Discliamer: I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC or working air-conditioning. But I do own new PJs, nice face wash and enough petrol to drive back home this afternoon. **

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Condry trudged through the forest dragging Olive behind him by her hair. The woman never shut up! He was sick to death of all the 'you wont get away with this', 'you're the scum of the earth', 'I'm going to kill you.' Seriously he had heard them all before, from more people then he could count, and you know what he had discovered; he did get away with it, they never killed him and he may be the scum of the earth, but he honestly didn't care. The only reason he was dragging the bitch around with him was to be sure she didn't get up to anything. If he had left her in a cage with her brother and she probably would have broken them out by now and informed half the bloody country about what he was up to. She was annoying as all hell, but he had to give her credit for being resourceful. Here he could keep an eye on her and keep the threat of her brother's life hanging over her head. He would have brought the snivelling idiot of a brother, but Olive was nicer to look at, and he wasn't sure what it was but Joseph gave him the creeps. Yes, he knew it was ridiculous that he, the most feared assassin in the all the kingdoms got the creeps from a pathetic peasant boy, but it was true and he just couldn't explain it. Condry paused to examine the tracks on the ground. He was going to be patient, follow him until he knew he could get a shot away safely, collect his reward and then say goodbye to Camelot for at least the next seven to ten years.

Arthur knew getting out of the castle was a good idea. Sitting, cooped up, knowing that there is someone out there trying to kill you- not so good for your mental health. You would think he would be used to it by now. Enough people had tried to kill him over the years. He guessed it was an occupational hazard of being King. Being King had an awful lot of perks, but this was one hell of a downside. It also didn't help that Merlin was always on his case. He was great man servant, and probably the best friend that a man could hope for but he nagged him constantly. 'Are you sure that is safe Arthur?'; 'You shouldn't prod that Arthur'; 'Slow down when you eat Arthur'. He was the King, if he wanted to prod the odd moving shape in the shadows with a sword; he was going to prod the odd moving shape.

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Out hunting he felt free. He could almost forget that the fate of his people and land rested on his shoulders, he could just be himself. In the forest, holding a bow and arrow, all men were equal. It didn't matter if you were a King, a carpenter, or a shoe maker, the arrow would fly through the air based on the skill of the shooter, not on the nobility of their birth. That was why losing this hunting competition hurt. It was a test of his skills as an individual that could not be swayed by his status, and he was losing. He was being tested and found wanting. This was something Arthur would not and could not accept. Assassin be damned, he was going to prove his worth.

Nudging his horse forward he found himself in a small glade. The dappled sunlight shining through the canopy of the tress made the greens and browns of the earth seem like they were dancing. Arthur registered the beauty of the space before he realised that this was the same place that Eldridge had been mauled by the boar. Glancing over to the clearings far east corner Arthur could not see any sign of the brutality which had occurred here only a few days ago. The cycle of nature, it seemed, paused for no-one or no-thing. There were fresh tracks in the glade, which appeared to belong to a boar. Arthur wondered if it was the same one that was here a few days ago. If it if was it was a beauty, a vicious beauty, but a beauty nonetheless. He examined the tracks left by the animal. They crossed back over each other several time, muddling the direction that it was actually heading it. South, Arthur concluded. Turning his horse to the south Arthur promised himself that he was going to get this boar before the day was done.

Arthur had been tracking the boar for several hours. Looking up at the sky he realised that sunset was not long off and he had very little time before the competition concluded. He needed to turn back to the castle soon if anything he caught was going to be counted. Examining his surrounding more carefully Arthur suddenly swore. He had been tracking his animal all day and it had led him back to the glade he first discovered the tracks in. It better bloody be there he thought otherwise he may as well have stayed in the castle with Merlin and the knights baby-sitting him all day.

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Gwaine, Merlin and Eldridge, collapsed on the ground exhausted. They had left the castle that morning prepared for a battle, prepared to come across Arthur, and Condry and to save Arthur in a bloody confrontation. What they had got was hours of endless wandering around the forest coming across every noble and his dog in the country (literally), but not being able to find Arthur. It seemed that Arthur had broken off from a group of other nobles early that morning and no-one had seen him since. None of them knew what to do. They needed to find Arthur before Condry did, but they had no idea of what direction they should even be traveling in. They had been searching for hours. If their mission hadn't been so desperate it would have been comfortable and fun traveling with Gwaine and his old friend. Merlin was learning more and more about Gwaine's past. The mischief he had caused in childhood, and the trail of broken hearts he had left a little later, causing him to have to set out from his home town. Merlin got the feeling that he and Eldridge were going to be great friends. He was companionable, easy to talk to, and despite the façade of not caring he put up, held firm beliefs about what was right and wrong. Merlin glanced over at his companions and saw that they were focused on watering the horses before they continued their search for Arthur. Closing his eyes Merlin concentrated and mumbled a spell under his breath. He was not sure if it would work, but it was the best he could think of. It was a spell he had used often since he had first learned it several years ago. It was to locate an item lost. He knew Arthur wasn't lost, but Merlin couldn't find him so he figured that qualified. The image that came to Merlin was not good. He was Arthur poised to shoot a boar, in a glade that looked like the one that they had found Eldridge in. The vision then expanded out and he could see the large burly man he had bumped into in the castle the other day. A woman was lying coconscious at his feet, as he awkwardly fumbled with a bow, Arthur clearly his target. The three men remounted their horses, preparing for another search. Merlin struggled to think of a way to direct he group to where Arthur was.

'Why don't we try the glade where we found Eldridge?' Merlin suggested.

'Why would he be there?' queried Gwaine.

'Perhaps he went back there to track the boar that we saw the other day, it was quite large, perhaps Arthur decided to go after it.'

'It is as good of an idea as any,' piped up Eldridge.

'It is decided then', Gwaine sighed, 'this wild goose chase will continue onto the glade.'

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Arthur pulled his horse to a stop. He could hear the boar just ahead snuffling and rustling in the undergrowth. He smiled to himself. This moment was what the hunt was all about. Arthur stealthy slipped off this horse and secured it to a near-by tree. Approaching this animal on foot was more dangerous, but he would be more likely to be able to fatally wound it before it would notice his presence. The wind was a north-easterly; Arthur needed to walk around the clearing to the other side so that his scent would not be blown across the animals' path. Arthur picked each step with great care; he had no intention of letting the boar know he was there.

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Condry knocked the simpering girl out. She just wouldn't shut up and he couldn't have her ruining this. The girl thumped to the ground with greater force then he had intended. The sound startled the boar just ahead in the clearing. Condry swore it was a rookie mistake to alert the target of his presence before he was ready. Condry kicked Olive's unconscious body violently to release some of his frustration. He could see the King just up ahead. The fool was so intent on hunting the boar he still did not realise that Condry was hunting him. Condry knew he did not have long before the King's focused changed from the boar to what had startled the boar. He fumbled with the bow and arrow, trying to nock the arrow. This was not his weapon of choice. In fact he hadn't shot a bow in since he was a child. The only reason he was using this stupid weapon as that the arrow was guaranteed to hit his target, no matter his skill as an archer.

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After what seemed like hours Arthur felt he was in a good position. He could see the animal clearly and had a good shot. He took a deep breath, in and out, steadying himself for the shot. Readying his bow in a motion so fluid it could have only been practiced from birth, Arthur took aim, slowly began to release his breath, and then the animal startled. It hadn't been him, he was sure of it. Quickly adjusting his aim Arthur let the arrow fly through the air. His aim was true and the arrow buried itself into the animals' neck. Arthur released another arrow, followed by a third. All of them hit their target and the boar was gravely injured. It would not belong before the boar would stagger and die. Arthur knew that he would not have to follow the animal far to find its' final resting spot. He was grateful that his arrows had the royal seal carved into them, as if anyone found the boar before him, they would know who the kill belonged to.

Now that Arthur had hit his quarry he expanded his awareness out from his immediate surroundings, something had startled the boar. Looking in the same direction the boar had glanced at Arthur saw an extremely large burly looking man. The man had a bow and arrow aimed in his direction. Judging from the man's stance he was not a practiced archer. Arthur was not worried, the man didn't look like he could shoot an arrow to save his life, based on the skill of the man the weapon was never going to hit its' mark. Arthur started to walk towards the man, when the arrow missed he was going to wring the mans' neck. If this was the assassin that everyone was so worried about he was sure a child would have had a better chance of killing him. The large man had nocked the arrow; he pulled the string back and released the arrow. To Arthur's shock and horror the arrow flew directly towards him. The arrow which should have dug itself into the earth a few feet in front of the burly man and flying swiftly through the air straight towards Arthurs' heart.

**All I want for belated Christmas presents is reviews….**


	12. Death

**Hey everyone just a few notes here.**

**1) Characters die in this chapter**

**2) I know this is short and I am sorry, I am having trouble writing this story right now. I know what is going to happening but the writing process is not flowing as easily as it usually does and I am really struggling writing the last few chapters.**

**Thank you and happy reading. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or enough hours in the day or a comprehensive understanding of university politics and regulations. But I do own a plane ticket to Melbourne, a packet of pizza shapes with two biscuits left in it and a nice big spider free office. (update: I now own an empty packet of pizza shapes)**

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Merlin tapped danced naked on the roof of the stable while singing 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful' at the top of his lungs. …..

Nope that is not where the story is going….. Take 2…..

Merlin, Gwaine and Eldridge came upon the clearing, just behind Condry, in time to see him release the arrow from his bow. Merlin didn't have time to think, he muttered the first words that came to him. Words which meant 'return what was given'. Merlin's eyes glowed gold as his magic worked upon the enchanted arrow. The arrow which had been flying straight towards Arthurs' heart seemed to pause for a moment mid-flight. The arrow then performed 180 degree change of direction and started to barrel back directly towards Condry. The burly mans' eyes grew wide with fear and horror. The arrow which had been on target to slay the King of Camelot was now headed directly back at the man who had released it. Condry had always thought that he would meet his doom with his eyes wide open, but in that moment scrunched his eyes closed, tensed himself for the impact that was to come and made whatever peace he could to whatever Gods that would take him, as he readied himself for him imminent death.

But Condry did not feel the pain of an arrow piercing his chest, instead he heard the distinctive sound of a man grunting in pain behind him, followed by the unearthly scream of a grieving woman next to him. Condry opened his eyes and the first thing he saw has Olive broken with grief sprawled at his feet.

'The stupid cow woke up,' was Condry's very first thought, which was not a particularly logical one, a fact that even Condry quickly realised. His moment of confusion and relief passed as his instincts kicked back in. Condry spun around to assess what the danger was and who surrounded him. Condry was faced with a Knight of Camelot appearing equally distraught as Olive, and the lanky blue eyed servant that he had bumped into earlier that morning who had a look of horror and guilt plastered on his face. At their feet lay Eldridge collapsed on the ground in the spot that Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin had found him only days before, with the arrow protruding from middle of his chest directly over heart. Eldridge's eyes were open looking unseeingly into the sky. Condry had seen a lot of dead bodies in his time and there was no doubt in his mind that Eldridge was dead.

Condry smiled smugly to himself. 'It was about time that annoying twat finally bit the dust,' he thought. Still smiling to himself he looked down at Olive whose whole body was shaking from the force of her sobs. At the same moment that Condry looked down Olive looked up and saw the smile upon Condry's face. Condry never saw it coming. Her whole demeanour changed in a single moment from a grieving loved one to that of vengeful wrath.

'You killed him!' Olive screamed.

Launching herself as Condry she used her nails to scratch at his face and arms. After struggling for a few moments Olive somehow managed to grab the second arrow that Condry was carrying. Without hesitating for a moment Olive plunged the arrow into Condrys' chest with all of the force she could muster. The fate that Condry thought he had been reprieved from only moments ago now descended upon him. He heard the sound of a man grunting in pain and vaguely recognised it as coming from himself. His legs began to weaken as he fell face forward towards the ground. All he could think of was how falling face forward would push the arrow further into this chest, but he could do nothing to stop the forward motion. Condrys' final thought as his body hit the ground was that he only ever got paid half his fee for this crummy job and he never even had a chance to spend the money that he would have sold the medallion for.

Olive stood and stared down at the body of the man who had tormented her and her brother. He was dead now, it was all over. Feeling the need to see his face Olive bent down and rolled the body over. She was ashamed to admit it, even to herself, but she felt a grim sort of satisfaction from ending the life of this horrible man. Her satisfaction abruptly turned to horror as the realisation that _she_, _Olive_, had just murdered a man, and not just that, she had killed the man that had killed Eldridge.

'I killed a man and Eldridge is dead,' she muttered to herself as her legs began to give way.

Olive never hit the ground as during this time Arthur had been making his way across the glade and managed to make it to her in time to catch her before she fell. Olive looked up at Arthur gratefully. Merlin and Gwaine then appeared at her side as well.

'Is anyone hurt?' Merlin asked.

All members of their small group shook their heads. Olive glanced over mournfully at Eldridge's body.

'I'm sorry, he's dead' Merlin told her, sparing a glance at Gwaine as he said it. Merlin's guilt over what happened magnified as he saw Gwaine flinch at his words. Merlin didn't understand what had happened. The arrow was supposed to have hit the assassin, not Eldridge.

'Can someone please tell me what, in all the Kingdoms, is going on here? What are you all doing here? Who are those men and who on earth are you miss?' asked Arthur, his confusion at the situation clearly written across his face.

Merlin glanced at both Olive and Gwaine. Neither of them seemed capable of speech at the moment so Merlin sighed and began his explanation.

'That man,' Merlin started pointing down at the dead brute, 'was the assassin out to kill you. Eldridge woke up and discovered that someone had stolen two arrows from his bag. There was one arrow that they hadn't stolen and Gaius and Eldridge both explained that the arrows were magical. Eldridge had been bringing the arrows to Gwaine in Camelot so that the assassin wouldn't get his hands on them. But that all went pear shaped when he was injured by the boar. We found him, but his injuries stopped him from warning us that the assassin was following him, or that the arrows were magic so that they would always hit their target. When Eldridge woke up this morning and told us we knew that we had to warn you, so we have been traipsing around the woods all day trying to find you.' Merlin finally concluded.

Every time that Merlin had mentioned Eldridge he had seen Gwaine flinch from the corner of his eye.

'I'm sorry but I don't know who you are?' Merlin said to Olive.

Gwaine, coming out of his own grief enough finally took a decent look at the woman who was in the glade with them.

'Olive? Olive is that you?' Gwaine asked her.

Olive nodded meekly, still in shock at what had happened. Merlin and Arthur still looked confused as Olive didn't offer an explanation.

Gwaine then spoke up again, 'Olive, Eldridge and I, we all knew each other when we were younger. Olive's younger brother to tag along after us sometimes as well.'

Olive was still in shock and disbelief at what had just occurred, not only was Eldridge dead, but she had just killed a man. Trying to comprehend these facts Olive forced herself to look over at Eldridge's body. Something wasn't right.

'The arrow.' Olive said.

'The arrows were magic Olive, we know,' responded Gwaine reassuringly. Gwaine seemed to be coping better now that he realised that Olive needed support.

'No', she replied, 'the arrow in Eldridge is gone.'

Merlin, Gwaine and Arthur all looked at Eldridge's body. Olive was right. The arrow which had previously protruded from the dead man's chest was no longer there. The men and Olive then turned their attention to Condry's body; the arrow that Olive had stabbed with him only moments earlier was disappearing before their eyes. The weapon was dissolving into a fine mist and blowing gently away on the wind. The beauty of the arrows disappearance was in sharp contrast to the ugliness of death which surrounded it. The arrows it seemed could only be used once.

The group looked at the disappearance of the arrow with awe, before Gwaine added 'I guess there is absolutely no doubt not that they are magical arrows.'

Arthur decided it was high time he took control of the situation. He was the King after all.

'We need to get back to the castle and inform the guards what has happened. They will need to come and collect the bodies. Gaius will need to examine them to make sure they were killed magically. Merlin go and fetch my horse….'

At that moment a hunting party entered into the glade consisting of Lord Garreth, Lord Ektor and their men, it seemed as if this group always met by pure chance in the same place. The entire hunting party paused as they noticed and surveyed the carnage which the glade contained. Lord Garreth examined the bodies on the ground with a curiosity, while Lord Ektor paled at the sight of the dead men.

Olive looked at the Lords in confusion until her expression changed to realisation. She recognised one of the Lords. One of them was the whiney, snivelling noble which had lead Condry, her brother and herself into the castle. The man who had really tried to kill the King was now in the glade.

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**Please Review. I need all the motivation I can get right now. **


	13. Who Done It?

A/N: Again, I am sorry for the delay. My life is epically busy and honestly I don't think that is going to change anytime soon. I am doing a PhD and was recently elected to being the President of my Universities Postgraduate Students' Association- which is rewarding, but a massive time drain. I will update when I can, and hopefully I will finish the story off soon.

**WARNING: I kill off another character in this chapter. **

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or a tablet, or a washing line that isn't infested with spiders, or the fortitude to consistently deal with student politics. I do own three 180 page agenda I need to read before this coming Wednesday.

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Lord Ektor's expression went from a pale to green and then back to the deathly white. He was visibly disturbed by the scene which was before him. Lord Garreth on the other had was examining the scene with nothing but curiosity. Arthur put Lord Ektor's reaction down to a weak constitution. The man, in his opinion was a harmless, snivelling sort of fellow.

Arthur was observing the reactions of the arriving Lords, yet he would have been better off watching the expressions which flitted across Olive's face at their arrival. Merlin, ever astutely, never focused his attention solely on the nobility. He had learned long ago that if you want to know what is going on, watch the commoners.

When Olive had first seen the Lords she had first looked confused, but this expression had quickly changed to horror and then rage. It seemed that Olive was a girl of violent emotions.

'You!' Olive yelled accusatorily at the Lords. 'This is all your fault, you orchestrated this entire thing!'

Arthur turned to face Olive in order to reprimand her. The girl had just been through a trauma, but that did not give her the right to speak to a noble in such a manner.

'Hold your tongue girl. You should not to speak to nobility in such a manner.' Quipped Lord Garreth swiftly, but not unkindly. Lord Garreth was trying to put together the sequence of events which had so recently resulted in two dead bodies lying in the glade. He was not sure what had transpired, but he could see that it had visibly shaken the peasant girl.

'Yes yes, hold your tongue' Lord Ektor then added muttering the words almost under his breath. The Lord currently had the appearance of having completely lost his senses. He was muttering constantly to himself under his breath, his eyes were open unnaturally wide and he his breathing was rapid and shallow.

'Are you well Lord Ektor?' inquired the King.

The Lord then launched into a high pitched giggle; which made the hairs on the arms of all present rise.

'Oh yes, yes I am fine. Everything is absolutely fine. Nothing wrong here. Just peachy I am, just peachy.' The Lord rambled off, finishing off his verbal mutterings with another giggle.

'He did this' accused Olive again, this time being far more specific in her accusation by pointing directly at Lord Ektor.

'Olive!' Gwaine exclaimed, as he grabbed her arm in warning. 'You can't just accuse a Lord like that without proof…unfortunately.'

'I'm sorry Olive, I know you are upset, but you can't just accuse someone without proof.' Added in Arthur.

'But he organised this whole thing! He hired that brute to kill the King! I saw him, he lead us though I side gate into the castle dungeons, and they were talking, planning then. They were talking about the arrows and then…..and then he paid him. I do have proof! The medallion, he paid him with a medallion. He said it was his grandfathers or something. It has his family seal on it.'

'Don't be stupid girl!' Snapped Lord Ektor, as he broke out of his muttering to defend himself, and his honour. 'If I paid him with this medallion where is it then!' No-where! These are just unfound accusations.'

'Wait….wait…' Olive said. She bent down over the body of Condry, grimaced, and then started to go through the dead man's pockets. 'It's here. I know it is.'

Olives searching through the dead man's pockets became more and more frantic, as it became clear that the medallion was not there.

'See you have not proof of anything girl.' Snapped Lord Ektor, his constitution suddenly improving.

Olive slumped down onto her knees defeated and unsure of what to do now. She knew that is was Lord Ektor who had orchestrated the entire thing, but she couldn't prove it. Olive felt as if she was letting Eldridge down.

'Wait', Merlin said, 'I know when a lot of people want to hide something they put it in their shoes.'

Olive looked up at Merlin hopeful and desperate. She tore off one of the assassins shoes and turned it upside down. Her face fell when nothing fell out of the shoes.

'I object to the defilement of this body. Stop this now before you embarrass yourself even more girlie,' hissed Lord Ektor.

Olive was already tearing off Condry's second shoe desperate to prove the guilt of the man amongst them. As she tipped the second shoe upside down a large golden medallion fell from it to the ground. Picking it up, Olive jumped to her feet and waved it in front of herself.

'Here is my proof; the Lord paid the man with this!'

'Let me see that', commanded Arthur, wishing to see if the medallion truly did have the crest of Lord Ektor's family on it. Olive passed the medallion to the King. While she was doing this Lord Ektor has been edging his horse further and further away from the group. He could see that there was no way that this could end in his favour, and wanted to make a swift escape. He would ride for the boarder, perhaps try and find Morganna, he had heard that she was in the market for a new partner in crime. His planned had failed. He only wished that Arthur had died before he had to make his grand escape from Camelot, but then again….he still could.

Arthur examined the medallion grimly; he could clearly see that was Lord Ektors'. Shaking his head he looked up to confront the wayward noble, and for the second time that day found himself looking straight towards a man with a bow strung and an arrow aimed right towards his heart. Lord Ektor seemed to shrug nonchalantly and then release the arrow, before kicking his horse around and speeding off to escape capture.

Yet again the arrow did not find its target. This time it was not because of magical intervention, but due to the selfless act of a single person. Olive had seen what was happening and thrown herself at the King knocking him out of the way. Lord Garreth had kicked his horse around also, yelling over his shoulder, 'I shall apprehend the miscreant', as he rode off after Lord Ektor.

The three men remaining in the glade all took a sigh of relief, trying to comprehend what had just occurred when they heard Olive breath 'Oh damn', look down at her chest where a red stain was rapidly spreading and an arrow protruded before collapsing onto the ground. Gwaine threw himself to the ground and scrambled to her side.

'You don't get to leave me too', he commanded her.

'I don't think I have much choice in the matter', Olive responded weakly, giving Gwaine a sad half smile. 'Can you do me a favour? Go and find my brother, he's in the dungeons of the Castle. Please look after him. I think that, without me, he could go a little wrong.'

'Of course Olive, anything you need.' Gwaine didn't give her false platitudes about how she would be alright. He had seen enough wounds to know what was fatal, and this was. Olive had always preferred to be told the truth no-matter how uncomfortable.

'Thank you Gwaine.' Olive breathed, as she closed her eyes for the last time.

It seemed that this glade was a place of death.

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Yeah I know I keep killing people off…..sorry. There is pretty much only one chapter to go which will answer a few lingering questions and tie up some loose ends. Please review! I would love to make it to 60 reviews.


	14. The End

**A/N Extremely long time –no update. I know. I'm sorry. I think I just fell out of love with Merlin after the series finished. If anything this experience has taught me I am defiantly a reader and not a writer. Yet the idea of this being unfinished has been hanging over my head. I will endeavour to tie up the loose ends in this chapter. Thank you to everyone who is still reading this, and to those that consistently reviewed.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or Arthur, or the BBC, or any chocolate (anymore).**

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Merlin sat at the table in Gaius' quarters, his head in his hands, looking utterly defeated. He had just returned from the funerals of both Olive and Eldridge. The events of the last few days still seemed un-comprehendible to him. Lord Ektor had escaped; much to the shame of Lord Garreth. In his own words Lord Garreth had announced that he could not believe that such a pathetic excuse of a Nobel could possess the riding skills of a deity.

The other great irony of the day- at least in Lord Garreth's opinion was the Lord Ektor had actually won the hunting competition- although probably not the one he would have liked to win. The honour of winning the competition was then passed onto the man who had previously ranked second. A young squire who exuded such joy at his success not even the hardest of hearts could have begrudged him.

Gwaine had arrived back at the castle determined to fulfil his final promise to Olive. The tragedies which had befallen his friends pushed to the back of his mind as he focused on his new mission in life. Arthur, forever grateful for the sacrifice Olive had made was equally determined to help Gwaine. The two of them and the rest of the Knights had scoured the dungeons looking for Olive's brother. They had rediscovered several cells which had been unused since the Great Purge, mountains of rats and even a couple of secret passage ways; but no-one could find Joseph. It was disturbingly telling to Merlin that the final arrow had gone missing at the same time. He suspected that Joseph had broken out of the cells, stolen the arrow from Gaius's chamber and disappeared out of Camelot.

Since the search for Joseph had fallen through Gwaine had once again allowed himself to feel the full force of the pain from the loss of his friends'. Merlin had no doubt that he would recover in time, but for now the wounds were still fresh.

Gaius entered the chamber and looked sympathetically at his young ward. Gaius had experienced much death and loss over the years and unfortunately it had never became easier. He sat down in front of his ward, and they both sat in companionable silence for a time.

'What is on your mind Merlin?'

'Everything that happened, all of the death, I still can't work out why.'

'There often isn't a reason behind death', Gaius commented philosophically, 'that is an unfortunate fact I have come to realise over the years.'

'No, not that.' Merlin replied while he shook his head. 'I still just can't work out why Eldridge died. My spell, my magic, killed him. It shouldn't have. The arrow was mean to return to Condry.'

'Merlin, ' Gaius started, 'Your magic didn't kill him.'

'I don't understand what you mean Gaius?'

'You know that to save a life you must take a life.'

'Yes,' Merlin answered trepidly, not entirely sure where the old physician was going.

'And was a life taken to save Eldridge?'

'No.' Merlin was still confused. 'I still don't understand what you are saying Gaius.'

Gaius sighed. 'Think of it this way instead Merlin, what were the words of the spell you used when the arrow was shot at Arthur?'

'I cast a spell to return it to where it had come from.'

'And was that spell specific to magic arrow, commanding them to return to the quiver from where they had been shot?'

'No'

'So several things in that grove then returned to their rightful place. The arrow returned to Eldridge, because he was the person who had originally found it, and Eldridge's life returned to the other side because it wasn't meant to be here. A life cannot be restored without a price Merlin. We didn't pay the price, so we didn't get to keep the life. Your magic didn't kill Eldridge, the boar did. What your magic did do was give him a little extra time to save the life of a King and reunite with an old friend. You gave him more time, to help do something great with his life Merlin, and that is true gift.'

'I just wish I had known Gaius. I wish I could have done something else,' lamented the warlock.

'Magic has its own way of making sure that the world remains in order. You could not have predicted that this would have occurred, any more than a man could predict when his own last breath will be. Don't be so hard on yourself Merlin.'

Merlin sighed and still looked aggrieved. He had played out what had happened in that grove over and over again in his head, wishing he could have done something different to save the innocent lives that were lost there.

'Go to bed my boy, things may look a little brighter in the morning,' Gaius said as stood up from the table. 'Just be grateful that Arthur is safe.'

Merlin stood and walked to the door of his room. He sincerely hoped that sleep would put some distance between his and the events which had happened. 'You're right Gaius', he commented before entering his room, 'Arthur is safe, and that is something to be grateful for because that means there is still the promise of a bright future for Camelot.'

THE END

**A/N I hope that you all enjoyed this story and that you aren't too disappointed in the ending. It was my first multi-chapter fiction and now it's over!**


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